


Together We'll See Both Sunlight and Storms

by 2SadBisProjecting



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Asexual Leo Valdez, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gay Pride, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Karaoke, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Minor Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Multi, Pansexual Piper McLean, Polyamory, Post-The Tower of Nero (Trials of Apollo), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Quests, Slow Burn, Southern Will Solace
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 34,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28133868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2SadBisProjecting/pseuds/2SadBisProjecting
Summary: When a new prophecy is given, what was supposed to be a fun month celebrating pride quickly becomes a dangerous quest that crosses pantheons. New friendships will form and old ones will be tested. Love and anger as well as plenty of angst are all combining to bring the crossover you never knew you needed. (Title is from the song "Sunlight and Storms" by Matt Dahan & Kelly Lynne D'Angelo)
Relationships: Magnus Chase/Alex Fierro, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Piper McLean/Leo Valdez, Piper Mclean/Shel, Thalia Grace/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 15
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1: Nico

**Author's Note:**

> Nico's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pride is starting and Nico is a bit confused.

It was the first day of summer. Not that I had kept track since the quest. Everyone I knew was either arriving and greeting old friends or helping receive the new campers. I had decided to take the opportunity to train in the arena. As often as I'm told I belong here, I'm still not sure. Far too many watch me with fear for that to be true. I almost go into the Zeus cabin to say "hi" to my friend Jason when I remember and slump down in my seat. It's been a rough year. I'd finally started to recover from losing Bianca when I sensed his passing. This reminder of him being gone however small hit me like a bag of bricks to the gut. He was the first person I ever told my secret to. Honestly I thought I'd carry that to my grave, I would have, too if it wasn't for that gods-dam-son-of-a-bitch Cupid.

I see a flash of blond hair and my heart skips a beat. I guess there were some good things to come out of that situation. My boyfriend Will had been running around welcoming new campers and ensuring the infirmary was fully stocked. He was also making sure the first-aid kits they had put in place this year were well marked and also properly stocked. It still surprised me how many new campers there were, when I was ten there had only been a small handful, but now I've lost track of how many there were. I suppose that's part of the god's promise to claim all of their children and Jason's promise to ensure all minor deities are recognized. Yet another reminder he's gone.

Will ran over to me and I almost laughed, "What in Hades is on your face, Solace?"

He touched the rainbows on his face as if forgetting it was there, "Oh I forgot to tell you, it's pride month."

I raised an eyebrow, "What? What do you mean?" He sat in front of me, and this boy never learned how to sit in a chair correctly. He always props one of his feet on the chair and stretches the other in front of him while leaning back so far he looks like he might fall out of his chair. It was kind of adorable, but I would never tell him that.

"Pride month! When we get a whole month to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community which includes you and I. I thought we talked about this?" We had not talked about this. Or maybe we had. It's hard to say, really.

"That still doesn't explain the rainbows, Solace." He leaned back dramatically, "Because… Gay, rainbows are gay." Such an eloquent explanation as always.

I nod and he takes that as me understanding, "Oh, Annabeth's cousin and a few of the Hunters are coming here as well." He told me.

I looked up and gave him a halfhearted smile, "For gay month?" Will clapped his mouth shut to avoid laughing.

"Not for gay month, though her cousin is gay. It's just for a visit." I nodded again.

"Which hunters are coming?" "I think Thalia, Hunter, Reyna," he listed them off, "I don't know all the names but I do remember those three." At least it was the ones I liked. I'd not entirely let go of my grudge against the hunters but Thalia had helped rescue me and Reyna… well Reyna helped me come to terms with my homosexuality. I liked them. Hunter was a name I hadn't heard before. Most likely a new recruit.

"It'll be good to see Thalia and Reyna." I said. "I haven't heard from them in awhile." Will smiled at me. Ugh why did his smile have to be so sunshiny.

He leaned in but then I smelled death. Like, actual death. I'm a child of Hades, it's not that weird people I raced out of there, grabbing Will's hand as I ran.

"There's someone about to-" "Oh, hey Nico!" Annabeth Chase greeted me, "This is my cousin, Magnus, and his…"

"Friend, Alex," a green haired person with a watermelon patterned shirt said. "Pronouns are she/her unless stated otherwise."

Before I could question what she meant, something else blurted out. "But you're- you're-"

She narrowed her eyebrows at me, "I'm what, exactly?" Magnus looked back and forth between us as if ready to step in.

"Dead." I told them, "How are you here?"

"There are gods other than the Greek and Roman ones," Annebeth said,"In this case Norse ones. These two are visiting from Valhalla."

Will grabbed my hand and I realized I hadn't introduced him yet, "Right, um well I'm Nico di Angelo and this is my boyfriend, Will Solace." Will nudged me, "I thought I was your significant annoyance." I rolled my eyes. "I was trying to be sweet and introduce you politely, but if you insist."

I looked back up at Magnus and Alex, who didn't seem to be paying attention to us. I noticed a pink, yellow and blue flag on Magnus's back and remembered what Will had told me. "Wait, I thought you were gay?"

Alex started to look very angry murder glinting in her eyes. Magnus looked ready to jump in at a moment's notice once again. Will took a deep breath in, "Well this is awkward."

I wish someone would just speak up and explain. I look down and fiddle with my skull ring and don't look up until I remember, "Wait, is this some sort of new thing?" I ask.

Alex starts to pull out what looks like a wire when Will slaps his forehead, "Di immortales, I forgot you're from the 40s!" 

Alex stops, "Wait, you're joking, right?" I shake my head, "No, I was born in 1932 and my dad put me and my sister in a hotel for 70 years."

"Nice guy." She says and I can't tell if she is being serious. "Anyway, I'm sorry, Magnus." I tell him.

He shrugs, "You can't help it. I'm pan, by the way, I like people regardless of their gender." Okay, now I was really confused, "I thought Pan was the god of the wild."

"Pan is an abbreviation of the word pansexual." Will jumps in before the silence stretches for too long.

I hear a voice from a few cabins away, "Alright, another pansexual?" Was that… McLean? It wasn't that she looked different, just a bit happier considering she just lost her boyfriend a few months ago.

"So what's been happening?" She asked. A girl with brown hair ran up to Piper.

The new girl held Piper's hands and the piercing in her nose twinkled in the sunlight. "There you are! Oh are these your friends? I'm so glad I finally get to meet them!" She smiled at Piper and then looked at all of us. I had a feeling these two were pretty close, but I wasn't entirely sure who this girl was.

Piper gave a small smile, "This is my girlfriend, Shel.” Wait, did she say girlfriend? Her smile brightened as she clasped her finger's with Piper's. Shel introduced herself to everyone but by the time she got to me, my jaw was wide open. I was a bit scared to say anything after my last comment, but I needed answers.

Piper must have noticed my expression because she spoke for me,"That's Nico, he's a child of Hades." She told her.

Shel raised an eyebrow, "Alright then." Will broke the awkward silence that came after that, "Oh look, it's time for the campfire."

"I'll race you," Alex said and sprinted off. "No...fair," Magnus wheezed as she laughed.

I was about to follow Will when I heard Piper say, "Hey, I wanna talk to you about something." I glanced at Will who gave me two thumbs up and ran after Magnus. I looked down as Piper moved closer and continued messing with my skull ring.

"You good?" She asked and sat next to me, "You're not mad at me for being pansexual, are you?"

I shook my head vigorously, "No it's just," I sighed, "I spent so long thinking I was alone. And to learn that you were also...in a similar situation, that's just- I don't know."

"If you're going to say overwhelming or shocking, I get it. You were stuck figuring it out and coping on your own for so long it must be hard to wrap your mind around that no longer being the case." I looked up at her, then jokingly punched her in the arm.

"What was that for?" She shoved me. I smirked, "For making me think I was surrounded by straight people for months."

We both laughed at that until I heard Shel in the distance, "Come on, sweetie pie." Piper's face blushed slightly and I snorted, but she snapped her head at me, "Not a word, di Angelo."


	2. Reyna

We needed more ace flags. And lesbian, bi and pan and aro. How else were we going to play capture the flag with Camp Halfblood? I feel like I'm missing a pride flag on that list but it's too late now.

Thalia gives me a hug and then steps back seeing all the flags, "Wow, that's a lot of polyester, you sure that's enough, though?"

I slap my forehead and curse in Latin, "Of course! Polysexual, that's what I was missing."

She rolls her eyes and picks up a rainbow flag, "This is an umbrella pride flag Reyna surely, it hits the ones we can't find."

I stand up, appalled by my girlfriend, "I can't be expected to lead an army of gays with only one flag," I look around at the floor covered in flags.

"Okay, maybe it's a bit overkill but-"

Thalia puts on her leather jacket and smiles up at me, "It's just capture the flag, we have the entire month of June for pride. Plus, we haven't even finalized our battle strategy yet."

I straighten my back and nod, "Yes, of course, sorry, babe." She kisses my cheek and we walk hand in hand to the rest of the hunters.

"Ready to go love birds?" says Hunter with a smirk. 

Thalia rolls her eyes, "Unless Reyna's still not satisfied with the flags, then yeah."

I lightly shove Thalia, "I just want our first pride month together to be perfect."

Thalia laughs and pulls my hand, "You worry too much, now come on."

We meet up with the other hunters, holding all of the flags and start walking towards Long Island Sound. I start fidgeting with my jacket as I worry about the campers at Camp Halfblood. The Apollo cabin counselor, Will Solace, who had arranged for this months ago, said the kids we're pretty accepting of LGBTQ+ people, and I believe him. Yet at the same time, a small part of me wonders if this is a trick. It wouldn't be the first time camp halfblood had done something like that.

I shake my head, that was a mistake, an accident. Still, there was something about this that made me feel unsteady. What if we hadn't planned enough? What if they messed everything up or there was a monster attack?

I buried those thoughts and gripped my bow tighter, doing a quick glance around again, just in case.

Unsteady, I fall into my girlfriend, who accidentally sends a shock of electricity to my arm when I bump into her.

I curse in Latin but Thalia just points to a tree in the distance. "There it is, halfblood hill." She says.

I smile at her, but she is still staring off dreamily into the distance at the tree. I narrow my eyebrows and open my mouth to ask what was wrong when she turns to me so fast I hear the pins on her jacket move, “It's just a tree. It can’t hurt me, it never could.” 

I know that spot has more bad memories, and the tree isn’t the only thing that’s bothering her. Why was she keeping it from me? Whatever her reasons I choose to leave it alone. We both have our pasts and when she is ready we’ll talk about it.

I stand up and we lead the other hunters through the barrier. I gasp at the rainbow flag that we are greeted with when we enter as well as the other various flags. They really are open and accepting like Will said. A black t-shirt catches my eye in the crowd and I run towards my son- I mean friend, Nico Di Angelo.

Nico runs two steps before I grab his arm, not too rough, just enough to stop him. "You aren’t getting away that easy Death Boy.”

Nico slumps in my grasp and faces me, smiling shyly, "Hey Reyna,"

A tall sunshiny boy's eyes widen, and I feel like I know him from somewhere.

There are about four other people, I recognize one as Annabeth. The other one I recognize is Piper. There are also two sunshiny blondies, a cool looking person in green and pink, and another girl who is leaning against Piper.

Nico leans against me, knowing he can't escape this, and gestures, “Fine I surrender.” I laugh and give him a hug. “I’m shocked you thought you could win that battle.”

Nico returns the hug and then gestures to one of the sunshine boys, "That's my significant annoyance Will Solace." He says but I see his mouth quiver to a smile.

Will Solace. I narrow my eyebrows, he's the one who organized this. He walks over and takes Nico's hand and I glare at him.

Will walks back, "What the-"

"Don't you dare hurt my child, you got it?" I continue to glare at him until he responds.

“Got it. I love Nico and wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.”

Nico's eyes widen, "Wait what? You love me?"

Will looks like he wanted to run away, but thankfully the cool person in green and pink saved him, "So not to be rude, but who the heck are you?"

"I'm Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, Nico is my child."

The person smirks, "Nice. I'm Alex Fierro, he/him for now, and this idiot," he points to the other sunshiny blondie, "Is Mango Cheese."

"I'm Magnus Chase" he says. Piper introduces me to her girlfriend and there's an awkward, tense, silence at that point.

Thalia runs towards us and gives Annabeth a hug, "it's so great to see you all,"

"Capture the flag tonight, right?" Annabeth asks.

"Oh you bet, man I remember the last time there was a Hunters vs Campers game and Bi-" she stops and looks toward Nico's direction before her eyes fall to her feet.

“You can say her name, I'm not a kid anymore. she wouldn’t want us to be sad forever.” Despite what Nico says his eyes have lost the spark they held before this conversation. I remember he told me about his sister once, but he didn't go that much in detail. I knew it was a soft spot with him, but my heart still ached. He  _ is  _ my child after all.

Thalia cleared her throat, "Just, she said something funny and… I don't remember." Nico rose and began to walk away.

Just then, a horn blew and we were told to gather around the campfire. Nico tenses for a second but then turns to head towards the campfire anyway. We follow but the air of happiness and the carefree spirit from before is gone.

Thalia even seems distant as we sit at the campfire, which was a dark orange but around our feet it seemed to be dying, which probably shouldn't be possible. Annabeth must see my confusion so she clarifies, “ The campfire reflects the moods of those sitting around it.”

Thalia kicks a branch into the fireplace and the circlet on her head falls through her head. I carefully help bring it back to the top of her head and she turns to me, "Sorry." 

A part of me sank at that word, what was she saying? She didn't do anything wrong. I take a deep breath in, "So capture the flag?"

Thalia looked up and smirked, "This is going to be epic."

I laughed at her enthusiasm and threw my arm over her shoulder. “ Most definitely, the campers won’t know what hit them.”

Thalia turned back to the fire and hunched her shoulders. I narrow my eyebrows, "Hey what's -"

"Nothing," Thalia snapped, then sighed, "I'm just… tired."

I nod, it had been a long walk, but I sensed there was something she wasn't telling me. Though I didn't want to push it. I wouldn't even know how. I hadn’t felt this helpless since- in a very long time. Before I could make a fool of myself, the centaur dude spoke up.

“Campers and honored guests, welcome to our start of summer camp fire. An extra special welcome to our new campers! Now per tradition as we have some of the Hunters visiting we will be having a capture the flag game. The rules to that will be discussed when we play. In other important news we are celebrating the first day of Pride tomorrow, Apollo head counselor, Will Solace, would care to explain further?"

Sunshine Blondie left my child, “Like Chiron said tomorrow is the first day of Pride! For those who don’t know Pride is a month celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and all we have fought for. If you have further questions as this month goes on feel free to ask as long as you do so respectfully. We have many campers who are a part of this community and while none of us are obligated to educate you several of us ,myself included, have no issue doing so. Homophobia and transphobia of any kind will not be tolerated. You will be called out and punished for such behavior. Other than that, my fellow community members take this month to be proud of who you are, you have nothing to be ashamed of. This part of you makes you no less strong or-”

He probably said more but I zoned out. I wasn't trying to be rude to SB but I couldn't stop thinking about what Thalia said. Or did, really. I should probably ask her again, but at that moment, Sunshine Blondie decided to finish his speech and campers were already running toward the armory. I looked around and Thalia was already gone, my shoulders slumped until I noticed the other Sunshine Blondie- what did Alex call him- Magnus.

They both noticed me first, "Yo Reyna, so we didn't know about capture the flag until today, so do you want to win or not? " Alex asked.

“We could win all on our own and have done so before, the question is do you?" I respond.

He smirks back and elbows the blond, "I like this one. Fine, an alliance it is."

"What about your whole sworn to maidenhood thing? Doesn't that mean no men in your presence?" Magnus asked.

"Well yeah but you guys are dead so…"

"Yeah no one can maintain a relationship when they're dead, Maggie." Alex teased. This child confuses me, but no matter. Now we have a stronger team at least, "Also, it's she/her now." Alex announced as we reached the armory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're going to be updating every other day from now on!


	3. Alex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Panic attack and fear of death.

We had finally arrived in New York after an unnecessarily long bus ride Magnus had insisted on. He claimed we had to have a "proper mortal travel experience" to fully enjoy the summer to come. I disagree strongly with that sentiment after several hours smelling the BO of other passengers. Look, I'm all for going to a random camp in New York full of crazy teenagers to celebrate Pride, but we could at least arrive in style.

Sure, I've lived in some weird places, I've been dead in some even weirder, but this wasn't like that. The ever usual average old white guy kept giving me weird looks, making me pretty uncomfortable. Magnus is playing with his necklace again, oblivious to almost everything around him. We passed under a bridge and I clenched the railing as the lights went off. Magnus's blonde hair was glowing in the dim light from the train. He turned to me and tilted his head like he always does when he's trying to know all my secrets. Ugh, he's so stupid.

I let go of the rail as we exit the tunnel, and an announcement came over the PA, "Upper East-Side Manhattan" was all I could make out from the garbled speaker.

Magnus stood as we pulled into the station and grabbed his bag as I followed suit. Soon we were weaving through the crowd until we spotted Percy's mom who was waving for Magnus. I suddenly recognized her as one of the volunteers at the Chase Space.

"There you two are, come on." She walked us to her car, "Annabeth's told me so much about you two." She said.

Magnus smiled and the two chatted away as I looked out the window. I'd only met Annabeth and her boyfriend once before, when they were helping Magnus with our quest and his sword, Jack, started hitting on Percy's sword, Riptide. Long story.

"Are you guys staying the night or leaving today?" She asks, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I look at Magnus who shrugged, "I guess whatever's good with you." Magnus says.

She nods and starts telling stories about Percy when he was a kid. I smirk, this will be fun.

About ten minutes later, we reach the Jackson-Blofis house and I hear some familiar music but I can't exactly place where I've heard it before.

Sally unlocked the door and I suddenly remember where I heard the song from. I rush into the room where I hear the sound and find-

"CAUSE IT'S TOO COOOOOOOOLD FOR YOU HEEEERRE!" Percy sang, slightly off key but with passion as Annabeth sang with him.

"AND NOW SO LET ME HOOOOOOOOOOOOLD BOTH YOUR HANDS IN THE HOLES OF YOUR SWEATER!" She sang back to him and started laughing.

The song slowed to the end and they looked like they were about to play it again when Annabeth saw us in the doorway.

I smirk at them, giving them finger guns, "Bisexuals?" I ask them.

Annabeth hurried to turn off the music, "Sorry, we didn't know you guys were coming." She said and at the same time Percy said, "Dam right we are."

Magnus found the room and narrowed his eyebrows but before his stupid beautiful face could say something stupid, he said, "I thought I was the gay cousin."

“Technically speaking you are no longer a cousin. Everyone else thinks you're dead.”

"Well yeah but- whatever." He said. I began eying around Percy's room. Don't get me wrong, he's not my type, I had just never seen so much blue before in my life.

I obviously prefer green and pink for my aesthetic, but I suppose everyone has their thing. Magnus starts talking to his cousin about what they did over the summer while I take my time exploring the apartment. It's warm and cozy. Honestly, a part of me felt uncomfortable. The only real house I'd been in since 'the night' was the Chase Mansion, and even there things felt off.

Wow, I hadn't thought about that night since Magnus- _stupid_ Magnus decided to invade my privacy. I still hated that he saw that part of my life. I mean I know it wasn't his fault but someone seeing you at your lowest, crush or not, is embarrassing.

Heat rushes to my face as I wonder if he knows anything else about how I feel. I roll my eyes. Of course he doesn't, he's an oblivious dope. I move my eyes across the photos on Percy's desk. I don't have many photos in Valhalla, even though we're supposed to get them. I guess almost all the people I cared about came into my life after I had died. I stop once I reach a photo of Percy and his mom and some other kid I don't recognize. They are at a skateboarding park. Percy must have been a few years younger, he looked like the stereotypical skater boy. In the next one, he is with his mom and I think they are at pride, he's carrying a bisexual pride flag over his head and his mom is smiling at him.

My hands start shaking as I stare at the image. I try to look anywhere else but for some reason it fills me with rage. A part of me, deep deep down, still wished that - that maybe things wouldn't have turned out the way it did. I start slowly pacing, no of course not, then I never would have met anyone, I never would have met Magnus. But do I really deserve to have met Magnus? My shoulders start to heave as I hear Magnus's voice.

"Alex? Are you O-"

"Just go away, I'm fine!" I snap and instantly regret it as I look up. He seems hurt and I feel guilty for feeling bad but I really didn't mean it.

"Alright, I'll just-" he continued

"No. Stay, please." I tell him. “Please just stay,” my voice comes out shaky and cracked like a piece of pottery that couldn’t handle the heat of the kiln.

He puts a hand on my shoulder and I almost flinch away until I realize he's not trying to heal me. 

My legs start to wobble and I force myself to sit on a chair next to Percy's desk. I cross my arms on the table and bury my head into it. I hear the squeak of another chair being pulled up and I feel Magnus's hand brush gently on my arm but he remains silent.

After a few minutes I bring my head up and Magnus nervously looks at me. I grab his hand without thinking, "I'm so sorry, thank you" I whisper, avoiding his gaze.

He gently squeezes my hand as a reflex, "Don't apologize, it's okay." 

"Shut up." Just like that things are back to normal. As much as I appreciate normalcy, I almost miss his hand in mine and the way it felt to be under his care and protection. He is warm and safe in every sense of those words and just for a few moments I was able to experience that for myself. Oh shit, my face is dangerously close to his again. I forgot how hot he looked that close.

My eyes go wide and I jump up, "Uh, thanks Magnus." I walk out the door, of course not without tripping over practically every single item on the floor.

He walks after me and Percy raises an eyebrow, "Don't tell me what you were doing in there, I don't want to know."

“Get your mind out of the gutter, fish boy.” I tell him. Magnus's pink face didn't help my case.

I groan, "we're not even dating, so shut up."

"Hey, we don't use bad words in this house." A tall man came in with a baby.

The man radiated such dad energy I wasn’t sure it was possible. This had to be the famous Paul Blofis.

"Oh, are these your friends, Percy?"

"Yeah, we're going to Camp for Pride. That's Magnus and his 'totally-not-significant-other-who-will-slice-your-head-off, Alex.'"

I take a deep breath in, ignoring his comments, "She/her pronouns until I tell you otherwise." I take a sharp intake, afraid he's going to ask what I mean. As much as I pretend that it's all fine, I _hate_ explaining my gender to people. Can't I just live without having to explain myself to cis people every five seconds?

"Okay cool," he said and put the baby down.

His response catches me off guard. It's the one I always hope to hear but I never thought I actually would. I smile and Mrs. Jackson-Blofis calls us for lunch.

After we ate her interesting choice of blue food (except for Maggie, he asked for undyed) we piled up in her car.

Percy and Annabeth took the backseat and there were toys and paperwork piled in the passenger seat, which left me and Magnus to be crammed in the middle. Just great.

Squished shoulder to shoulder we spent almost 3 hours driving to Camp. At a certain point I definitely did not rest my head on any blonde's shoulder and fall asleep. You can't prove anything. 

We arrived at Long Island Sound and Magnus shook me awake and we piled out of the car. We all retrieved our luggage. I was mentally preparing to meet all of these new people when I was suddenly pulled into a hug. The hug felt like home in a way that can’t verbally be expressed and was what I imagined a mothers hug would feel like. I quickly pulled away once I realized Magnus was staring at me. I clear my throat, "um thank you."

Mrs. Jackson-Blofis smiles at me, "of course dear, now don't let me hold you back!"

* * *

*Time skip to Nico's introduction*

We had been given a tour of camp and were now just standing around chatting when a tall blonde boy with the same sunshiny feel as Maggie came over with a scrawny white boy who looked like a walking corpse. 

"Oh, hey Nico!" Annabeth Chase calls out, "This is my cousin, Magnus, and his…"

"Friend, Alex," I say, winking in Magnus's direction. What? "Pronouns are she/her unless stated otherwise."

Nico looked horrified "But you're- you're-"

I narrow my eyebrows and frown and brace myself, knowing exactly where this is going to go, "I'm what, exactly?"

"Dead." He whispered, "How are you here?" I step back, surprised by this. 

"There are gods other than the Greek and Roman ones," Annabeth said,"In this case Norse ones. These two are visiting from Valhalla."

The blonde explains that he's Nico's significant annoyance, which is a phrase I will use when I date Magnus- I mean...nevermind. Everything is fine until Nico says something that catches me off guard.

"Wait...but I thought you were gay." Now I’m pissed. Magnus had literally just come to terms with being pansexual and this kid- this fucking 2012 emo kid has the audacity to accuse him of being anything but. Actively went out of his way to invalidate him? No.

His boyfriend went pale and ran his hand through his hair, "Well this is awkward."hand down his face. I wanted to slap him but I was willing to listen to what he was going to say to fully range how hard I needed to hit him. 

Then he says something even more annoying, "Wait is that some new thing?"

I sharply inhale, taking out my pottery wire. This 2012 emo boy is going _down._ Then, Will slaps his forehead, " _Di Immortales_ I forgot you're from the 40s hon."

I blink. What the- Annabeth explains it to me but I still feel upset. I look over at Magnus who hasn't looked up and I take his hand and give him a small smile, then I send Nico a glare.

Magnus continues talking to his cousin as a tall girl appears, hugging Nico. I introduce myself to her.

"I'm Alex Fierro, he/him pronouns right now," I look around nervously but quickly add in, "and this idiot is Mango Cheese." I tease him. 

He rolls his eyes, "I'm Magnus Chase." I smirk at him as the others start explaining how to play capture the flag.

* * *

*time skip to the middle of capture the flag*

We were tasked with helping the hunters capture the opposing team's flag. For people who could die in battle they sure fought like they couldn’t. And this was just a game for fun. I couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of how ferocious they must be when the stakes are significantly higher.

Right then, a tall girl with some sort of electric spear ran through me. Normally, I'd be intrigued by a new way of dying. A stab through the gut is painful as hell, couple that with electricity and its a torture I wouldn’t wish upon anyone, well maybe a few people, but you get the idea.

I suddenly remember that I can die for real and a surge of panic runs through me. I start screaming. Black spots start to dance across my vision as my legs turn to jelly beneath me. I vaguely see 2 blonde blobs running towards me and I start sobbing. _No, please not again. Not now_. Everything goes dark.

* * *

I wake up in a bright room and my breathing quickens and I look around.

"Where am I? What did you do to me?" I squeaked.

One of the blonde blobs from before comes into focus, and I recognize him as Will Solace. I slow my breathing slightly until I see Magnus in the corner of the room.

"You're in the infirmary, Alex, you didn't get that injured, most of pain seems to be psychological but you're fine now you just need to-"

"Did you do anything?" I look at Magnus. He opens his mouth and then shuts it. I throw the blankets over my head to hide myself from him and curl myself into a ball. I hate when he sees those parts of me. I hate that he now probably knows far more about me than I would ever willingly share. I hate that he is too nice to even consider this.

"Alex, I didn't-" but whatever he was going to say, he decided against and I heard his footsteps fade away. A part of me was scared of the fact that he left, the other part was relieved. I just hope he doesn't hate me after this.

After a few minutes, I removed the cover from over my head and looked over at Magnus, “How much do you know?”

He sat down next to me and took a deep breath, "Alex, I hope you know that I would never do anything to hurt you. How do you expect me to just sit there and watch- I couldn't watch you be in pain for so long. I promise I never wanted to but you mean so much to me that I can't lose you." With a shock I realize he's crying, honest to god tears fall from his face.

"I've already lost so much and I can't lose you. Because Alex, I- I can't live without you."

I smirk, "Oh is that why you let me kill you?" I turn my expression more solemn. His words sink in and I grab his hand.

"Honestly, I don't think I could live without you either." I whisper, shocking myself.

He leans in close and smiles, "I like you, but I know you said you wanted to wait but-" 

My heart explodes and I take his face into my hands, "You absolute dork," I lean closer to him and he follows. I gently kiss him and for the first time in a long time my heart feels full. I see bursts of color through my closed eyelids. I think it's my brain trying to cope with the amount of dopamine being released. I had kissed him twice before, both times I was afraid he didn't actually care. Now I know.

I open my eyes and see Magnus literally _glowing_. I start to chuckle as he realizes what he's doing.

The emo boy walked in "What the fuck Will?!" 

“Will isn’t here.”

Magnus turns around and the pale boy turns bright pink, "I think he went to check on some other camper."

"I uh- Oh you're not Will? Okay good good because you were-"

Will walks in the room, "Aright what's all the fuss about?" He turns to me and Magnus and then to his significant annoyance and coughs, "So Alex, I actually need to just talk to you for a few minutes, if that's alright?"

I sigh and peck Magnus on the cheek, "See you at the campfire, Chase."

He hops up, "right! Yeah." He walks out and Will walks closer to me. "You’ve healed perfectly in the physical sense that's not what concerns me.” My thoughts start racing through my head a mile a minute. What could he possibly be concerned about?

“You were very panicked about a relatively minor injury. The mental stress you put yourself under caused almost more damage than the injury itself. What made you so afraid?” 

"A relatively minor injury? She had a fucking electric spear! I could have died!" I realized then I had shown my hand. 

“You were afraid of dying. A reasonable fear hell probably one of the few healthy ones but even a healthy dose of the fear of death doesn’t make someone panic like that.”

"I- hang on, is this some sort of way to probe at my brain, because I'm sorry but that is _not_ happening again tonight."

Will took a deep breath and sighed,“I’m not trying to probe at your brain, I’m trying to help you. Clarisse’s spear causes a lot of pain but she knows how to use it. That blow wouldn’t have killed you. What almost did kill you was the panic attack it caused and the stress that followed. We can’t have you nearly dying every time you take a hit from a weapon this summer.”

"Well good because I'm stronger than that, I've died before and I can avoid it." My words didn't make sense, "Just stop trying to-" I fall silent. He was probably analyzing everything I was saying.

“Look I won’t make you talk about it, that would probably cause more harm than good, I will however tell you I’m always here to listen if you ever choose to. However until that day comes if this continues to happen this conversation will repeat itself every time it does.”

"I- I want to but at the same time I can't. I'm sorry." I whisper, completely surprising myself. I want to take it back, I want to have never come here.

I expect him to question me more but instead he nods and says, "That makes sense. I know completely how you feel. We’ve all been there.”

I bite my lip, "If you say so." I start to relax, "It's just too soon."

He shakes his head, "Alex, I understand and respect that but there may come a point where it's too late. You need to look out for yourself."

"See you at the campfire," he tells me and I nod and lay down to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percabeth dancing to Sweather Weather. Fierrochase. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. Will

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Panic attack/PTSD flashback/it's hard to say because its not in that character's POV but just stay safe while reading, y'all.

I hate sleeping. As soon as my head hits my pillow after the campfire, I start dreaming. Images flash through my mind, a pit of snakes, an apple being bit into, a golden sword, and a net of chains and several others I can't comprehend. I started panicking, snakes were my biggest fear, but I'd never tell anyone that.

The vision comes to a stop, when I hear a whisper, "They think they're safe because the oracles are restored? Ha, they have no idea what's in store for them."

With that I am jolted awake, surrounded by a pool of sweat. My breathing slowly relaxes as I realize that it was just a dream. A demigod dream, so it was probably real , but it was a dream nonetheless. I sigh, I really wish I had someone I could talk to about this. I have begged Chiron for years to get actual therapists for the camp, but he doesn't listen. I do all I can to be a therapist for everyone. It's still not enough though, I’m not trained for it and it's not even safe to have a 15 year old play therapist to a ton of other teenagers and pre-teens with severe trauma and learning disabilities. It's all starting to take a toll, sooner or later I’m going to crack it's just a matter of putting it off as long as possible.

I rub my eyes and try to avoid thinking about my dream. I'll go see Rachel later I guess. I get dressed and walk out of my cabin and run into the love of my life- my significant annoyance, Nico. He was leaning against the cabin door frame, I smiled at him. I glance at him and silently ask permission to take his hand. He nods and I hold his in mine. He shrugged up his shoulders and inhaled sharply.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask him.

"Did you mean it, about what you said yesterday, when you were talking to Reyna?"

My face goes red, "That I love you? Of course I do, stupid." He avoids my gaze and we keep walking. I look down and curse myself. Of course I was moving too fast, he had only just come to terms with his sexuality recently. Still, we had been dating for a year now. Wow, time sure flies fast. A part of me is still unsure about how he feels about me. I push those thoughts aside. I need to save that energy for helping the other campers. 

I suddenly remember that I need to talk to Rachel. I lean in to kiss him but he moves away so I stop. "Uh, yeah um sorry. I have to talk to Chiron about something."

"Oh right. About more of the-" he scrunched his eyebrows as if trying to remember something, looking absolutely adorable, "The LGBT+, right? About the pride thing?" He asks.

"Oh no not that, it's about something else actually." I explain.

He starts fiddling with his ring and I tilt my head, "Are you mad at me?" He asks me.

I look at him shocked and concerned, “Of course not! Why would I be mad at you?”

His shoulders somewhat relax but his brown eyes avoid my stare, "I don't know I mean I was kind of an idiot yesterday? I know it's really important to you. I hope I didn't mess it all up and ruin it for you." He mumbled.

"That's why you’ve been off this morning? Bless your heart I could never be mad at you over something like that. It isn’t your fault you aren’t caught up on modern terminology.”

He sighs "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. Anyway, what are you going to Chiron for? Is everything okay?"

I make a note to start explaining LGBT terms to him more often, he seems so insecure about it. "Oh I had this dream and I think- I think Rachel could help."

His eyes widen, "What? Is everything okay? Do I need to kill anyone? I've done it before, don't look at me like that, Solace"

I laugh, "No killing, yet at least. If you're really worried about it, I guess we can go together."

He seemed to debate the idea with himself before nodding his head. We walk to Rachel's cave. When we get there we see Rachel Elizabeth Dare herself in a paint splattered shirt with her hair sticking out in all directions like a fiery halo. She’s in the middle of what appears to be another painting on the already crowded walls of the cave.

I whistle, "Wow I'm always amazed whenever I see this." I admire the walls filled with images of what's yet to come and what has already passed until I get to the one she's currently working on. That’s when my smile drops. It's an image I recognize from my dreams the night before. I stumble back and she looks at me. Nico grabs my arm and narrows his eyebrows, "Is that from your dream or did you just want me to catch you?"

I desperately wished it was the latter. “I’ve seen that before in my dream,” I gestured to Rachel’s current painting.

She turns around and removes her headphones, "Oh hey-" green smoke starts coming out of her mouth and her eyes glaze over. I gasp and a voice starts speaking from her.

"A Titains weapon long forgot set upon a mountain top an unlikely group shall soon retrieve. 

Secrets forced into the light faced with jealousy and many a plight

Of a group of nine Halfbloods 

this unlikely troop must succeed

or face the creature’s wrathful deed

The fruit of the dove must be returned,

or lovers shall be forever scorned."

The smoke went back into Rachel and she collapsed and I caught her. I turn to Nico and his face is deadly pale. "We have to tell Chiron."

We carry her gently to the infirmary. This didn’t happen as often as one might think. At least not to Rachel. It was a lot harder when mortals got injured, not that we couldn't help them, but we couldn't use ambrosia on them or they would burn up. It actually happened to my dad once… long story.

I told Kayla to tell Chiron about the prophecy while I checked on Rachel. My thoughts wander back to the prophecy and I start pacing around the infirmary. Nico notices before my thoughts can wander too far and takes my hands.

"She's going to be okay. We all are." He tells me. I sigh and smile at him, his presence always calms me.

“I just wish prophecies were less of a death sentence. It used to be possible for them to take years upon years to come to fruition and that just isn’t the case anymore.” I let my head drop as I continue to try and decipher the prophecy. Logically I know I can’t but I can’t seem to stop myself. I know people are going to get hurt and I know I won’t be able to stop it.

I heard whispering coming from Rachel's room. I rush back in there, "Hey, give her some space." I tell the newcomers.

As I open the curtain to her room, I am taken aback. Both Percy and Annabeth were there, but that wasn't the weird part since they were good friends with Rachel. What surprised me was that they were all decked out from head to toe in bisexual flags for pride.

Nico walked in right behind me. He took one look at their outfits and froze. I knew he used to have a crush on Perch but I tried not to think about that too much. That was in the past, it was fine. The room was quiet for a while until Annabeth spoke up.

"So what did the prophecy say?" She asked with a smile.

I repeated it back to her and she sat down, "Do we have any idea who-"

"No, not yet." Nico told her, "Okay but seriously." He turned to both of them.

I braced myself for but he just said, "Was no one going to tell me everyone was gay on that ship?" I try to stifle a laugh but Nico continues.

“Not only that I was violently outed and the only straight person was the one who was there for that?”. His voice shook and I frowned. Percy looked like he was going to say something but Annabeth held him back.

"I spent years- _years_ with all of you guys before- before… just hiding and running because I was so fucking terrified of what would happen if anyone found out. And all of you are just now deciding to clue me in?" His voice cracked and I realized he was sobbing.

I reach to hold him in an attempt to comfort him but before I can Percy jumps in with the least helpful statement possible, "Jason wasn’t that straight.”

Annabeth slaps her forehead and Nico falls to his knees. The light and temperature in the room go down and cracks start forming in the ground, showing grass from underneath that instantly dies as it reaches the surface.

I rush over to him but I notice his chest start to heave and he cries out something I can't really understand. "No no stop." He murmurs.

I rush to his side carefully and he curls in a ball. The room starts going back to room temperature and I sigh in relief.

"Nico, can you hear me?" I say calmly to him. He slowly nods and I am eventually able to calm him down.

Percy slowly walks over to him, "Look Nico, I am truly and honestly sorry that you had to go through that." He said.

He looked up, his eyes red, but he didn't say anything.

"I- I never brought it up because well frankly, I was a bit busy trying not to die and I didn't have much time to celebrate Pride during that. Plus I was dating Annabeth so…" he sighs, "Ln ook Nico, I am always here if you need someone to talk to, okay?"

He nods and I smile. A part of me had a burst of anger, but that often happened when I was exhausted. Calming Nico down- I shake the thought away. I needed to be here for Nico right now. And always of course. Nico doesn't say much after that. Rachel begins to wake up and I have to tell everyone to leave the room. My heart sinks as I see Nico leave, I hope he will be okay.

\---------------------------

*time skip to the campfire*

I bounce my leg, checking my watch repetitively as I wait. Nico touches my arm and I look toward him and frown.

"Don't worry, it's going to be alright. Do you want to tell Chiron or should I?"

I stare into my cup of nectar, the taste of sweet tea still lingering in my mind. I shrug, "I'll do it, gods Chiron. He’s sent so many people on quests.”

I see Nico tense, "It's kind of irresponsible, but it's the price we pay for being children of the gods."

I snort, "Imagine if we actually got _paid_ for being demigods. What would the working rate be? Trauma or physical exertion?"

Nico laughs, "Either way, I'd be filthy rich." I see Chiron coming out of the Big House and I take a deep breath.

I kiss Nico on the cheek and feel his face grow warm, "I'll update you when I get back." I tell him. He nods and I walk to Chiron's table.

"Ah Will, is there a problem with the Pride events?" He asks me as soon as I approach him.

My eyes widened, I had completely forgotten about that. But before I can mention that, I blurt out, "Rachel spewed out a prophecy and we don't know what it means and we really need your help because I think the quest needs to happen soon." 

His eyebrows raise in sorrow and I quickly recite the prophecy to him. A part of me feels guilty for telling him, he probably feels upset and guilty for sending so many campers on quests they don't come back from. This was just another reminder.

“We will have to make an announcement.” He looked genuinely sorrowful. I look around at all the campers.

"Are you sure you want to do it? This could be really stressful for some people." I tell him.

“We don’t want to delay this. It's a true shame, this was meant to be a festive summer.” He turns and heads to the small stage at the front of the amphitheater. 

Chiron clears his throat and the other campers slowly quiet down, "It appears we have a new quest." He recites it somehow perfectly.

The light In the fire became dimmer and my heart sped up. I have to protect the other campers. Without thinking, I step up to the amphitheater, "I'm leading this quest, but we still need six other people."

Nico speaks up,”Obviously I’m coming.” my heart skips a beat. Obviously he would volunteer. I think back to the prophecy, that line 'or lovers shall be forever scorned', it scared me. I take a deep breath and nod, "Awesome, anyone else?" I whisper into the microphone.

Reyna and Thalia seem to jump out of their seats, "Count us in." Thalia says.

"I've been looking for an opportunity to attack someone- I mean an adventure." Alex says. m

Magnus looks up at her, "Uh I promised Samirah I wouldn't let you get hurt so I'm in as well."

I tried to count how many we had, we were at five.

"Alright we just need two more, anyone?" I ask. Honestly, I was pretty stressed over who we already had. I couldn't bear to lose any of them and I kind of worried about Alex. Alex still hadn't talked to me since she got a panic attack.

Then Piper shot up, "I'm up for another quest, what about you, Shel?"

The other girl shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

Before I can realize that we indeed had eight people, not nine, due to us gays being bad at math, a dragon flies through the sky and I hear a shrill scream.

All the campers run over and spy a small puff of smoke in the middle of the woods. Percy uses the water from a nearby lake to put out the fire and we run to see what's the problem when I recognize curly brown hair.

"Leo Valdez, what the actual-" 

"Piper! Oh my god you look so much taller than I last saw you." Leo tells her and stands up.

Piper throws her arms around him, then backs away, "What took you so long?"

"Jeez Pipes, there was traffic. Anyway, I heard there was a Pride celebration and I am all for it." He looks around.

Piper tilts her head but decides not to comment. I for one am coming to the conclusion the Argo 2 was very gay and I am wondering why I wasn't on the quest.

"I think we should catch you up on some things." Piper says and grabs his hand as they walk somewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now the story is getting good...


	5. Piper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Happy Holidays, y'all.

"What the-" Leo tells me as I drag him to the lake.

I hear a rustle of leaves and I smile as I see Shel follow us. "Is everything okay, Pipes?" She asks me and I hesitate.

Leo raises an eyebrow and I send a glare at him that says  _ Don't you dare flirt with her _ . "Who's this?" Leo asks.

Shel grabs my arm gently, "This is Shel, she's my girlfriend." I tell him.

He nods and surprisingly goes silent except for the fiddling with the tools in his tool belt.

I elbow him jokingly, "Shel, this is Leo Valdez, my best friend."

She sizes him up and Leo snorts then sighs, "There's actually something I want to- to talk to you about." Leo says. I am surprised by the earnestness in his voice.

"Is this about why you were so excited for Pride?" I ask him.

He looks around anxiously, "I- uh yeah." He tells me.

"You know you can trust us right? I mean- You don't know me but I won't tell anyone." Shel says and I squeeze her hand.

Leo takes a deep breath and stares at his reflection in the pond before slashing his hand through it.

"I'm bi." He says, then chuckles, "Wow, I finally said that out loud."

He continues to avoid my gaze and I roll my eyes, "Well duh, why are you so scared to tell me? I'm pansexual, dummy. I mean I get internalized homophobia but-"

"No, I- ugh this is so stupid. I'm such a cliche." He complains.

"What'd you do?" I ask carefully, not knowing if I really want the answer.

"Nothing, just my entire life." He jokes but continues, "But- and this next part may come as a shock to you and probably everyone I've ever met but- I am asexual." He says.

I stare blankly at him, "You know what asexual means, right?"

"What- yes of course I do! Heck I wish I knew years ago so I didn't freaking do all that stupid flirting." He says.

I nod, "I know how you feel. It took me years to realize I was pansexual."

He snorts, "Yeah but you literally acted like you hated every pretty girl you saw, I just flirted with them relentlessly. Which, I realize now was probably a bad idea and I should probably apologize but eh, one thing at a time right?"

I stare at him and smile sadly, Shel takes my hand and I kiss her check softly, "We should head back, it's getting late, love." She says, causing my face to get warm at the term of endearment.

Leo snaps up, "Oh I can't wait to see everyone, Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Jason, Nic- oh…" I knew that face, I saw the exact same one in the mirror everyday for  _ months  _ after Jason- after… oh gods. Leo shakes his head, "Anyway, let's get going." He says and starts walking towards the campfire.

"You never told me how you two met." Shel tells me as we sit down around the campfire again, the warmth of the fire comforting me. I stared at the fire, the truth was I still didn't entirely know.

"We met at a nature camp, but I don't really remember much." I explain.

She tilts her head and the stud in her nose twinkles in the firelight, "What do you mean?"

I bite my lip, "It was during the same time when Hera did the thing and right before we went on the huge… Quest." I tell her and she nods and leans back.

I snap up and face her, "We still need one more."

She raises an eyebrow at me, "What are you talking about?" Then her

jaw drops. "The prophecy!"

“I don’t want to ask you to join us. You died for us once, but I don’t think we can do this without you.” I drop my head after speaking. He’s been through so much and this feels like asking too much of him.

Leo looks up at me and then looks around the camp, "I- This place is basically all I have left." He takes some time before continuing, "But I'll have plenty of time for that later I guess. I mean- Of course you want me to go on the quest, I died and came back and I'm still Leo McSnizzle Bad Boy Supreme."

I roll my eyes and groan, this was going to be a long quest. I grab his arm and drag him over to Solace, "Found your ninth member."

Will narrows his eyebrows, then his eyes widen and he nods, "Oh right! Duh, sorry, math is hard when you're gay."

Leo raises an eyebrow, "Speak for yourself." He stands back, shock briefly flashing across his face before he continues, "Anyway, am I in it or what?"

Will shrugs, "I mean I guess but are you sure you're up for it? I mean you've been gone for-"

"I’m up for it.”

Will hesitates but nods. I look back at Leo and hope he knows what he's doing.

"When are we leaving, anyway?" I asked him, "The prophecy wasn't really clear."

He groans, "I don't know. In a few days I guess?" I roll my eyes at his dramaticness when someone calls Will's name and he rushes to the infirmary.

Shel taps my shoulder and smiles at me, "You never did give me that tour of the camp." She says and just like that I forget about everything else.

I lead her to the Aphrodite cabin first since that's the one I'm most familiar with. I look back at her as we speed walk to the cabin. The yellowish light highlights her dark hair. I remember a story that I had read about when my dad did a movie in Greece.

I clench my teeth because I did  _ not _ want to deal with that if it had anything to do with the quest we were going on. We reach the cabin and stop and stare at the dove on the door.

I think back to the lines of the prophecy that started this journey. That line of thinking leads to the memories of Jason. My eyes burn and my heart crawls into my throat. I try to move the thoughts away but it just gets dim. Shel holds my hand and I turn around, "Uh, there's nothing that exciting in there, let's go somewhere else."

She hesitates as if wanting to ask something but just nods, "of course."

As we walk my heart aches but I start a conversation to keep the mood up, "So you still haven't been claimed yet?" I ask her.

"Oh that's what I wanted to tell you! Yeah, I did, by Athena, sorry that I didn't mention it before," I shake my head, "It was a crazy morning, it's fine."

She doesn't look reassured but she squeezes my hand. We suddenly come to a stop and I realize where we are. A faded lightning bolt glints above the door. The world just wouldn’t let me be happy today would it? Shel looks between me and the door, "Is this-"

"Yeah." I whisper and without thinking I walk into the cabin, not caring what Zues thought. I look around and see a neat pile of clothes folded on his bed, covered in dust. My head spins as I wonder how long it had been there, how long it was there after he died.

Before I can stop myself I walk over and pick up the shirt sitting on top of the pile. It was his camp Jupiter t-shirt. I always hated that shirt but now I held it. I was so shocked after his death- so angry that I didn't really think to go through his things. I also didn't realize what I had lost: one of my best friends. I hear a door creak open and I gasp. I look towards Shel and towards the t-shirt and I am filled with so much guilt that I start sobbing.

I curl up in a ball as I think of how she must feel, seeing me still not over him. I was but- I still wish he was here. That he could see me and her and we could still be happy. That he never took that quest. That we could all just… be happy. I hear footsteps walk over to me and am hit with guilt. My vision starts to blur as I imagine what she's going to say. I imagine her thinking I still love a dead person. Leaving me. Instead she sits down next to me and pulls me into her arms. 

She holds me for a few minutes as I sob before I whimper, "I'm so sorry."

She stares at me, "No, don't be. He was your best friend, someone you loved. I could never, and I mean never, be angry with you for the pain him being ripped away caused you.”

I stare at her but I fall back against her. The tears in my eyes have stopped but I still feel horrible. "Thank you." I whisper to her.

She nods and holds me closer, "I'm your girlfriend, it's my job." She jokes and I sigh in relief. I hear footsteps and I tense, wondering if Zeus had realized we were here and got annoyed.

Instead I look up and see jet black hair, "Thalia?" I ask and she stumbles back, "I uh- hey." She says weakly.

It still surprised me that she didn't look a day older than when I had met her and a chill went down my spine as I realized she would look like that forever.

"I- can you give me a minute in here?" Thalia says. I look at her face and realize there was a change. She looked like she hadn't slept in days and I started worrying.

Shel squeezes my hand and faces me, "Yeah, that's fine, Thalia." I clumsily stand up and we slowly walk out of Zeus's cabin.

I wipe my face with my sleeve when I see a figure out of the corner of my eye leaning against the cabin.

"Leo? What are you doing?" I ask and he looks around, "I was just- I still can't believe it."

"I thought we were all going to grow old together and I would annoy you guys until the end of time. But this- this is real." His expression darkened.

I smile at him sadly, "Our story's not over yet." 

“Let’s hope it isn’t for a very long time,” he says.

"It will be if you guys don't go to your cabins." Annabeth says from out of nowhere.

"Oh yeah the Harpies will eat us." I say and Shel's eyes widen, "I'm sorry, what _?" _


	6. Thalia

After the campfire and the prophecy being announced I didn’t think things could get worse until I remembered. I had to visit Zeus’s cabin. I had been able to dodge it up until now. It was just too painful to go in there knowing what I would see. Jason’s bunk untouched and covered in dust. A change of clothes ready for a time that would never come. With the quest now coming I knew I had to make my peace with the place and pack away his things. Bid my final farewell, if you will. I didn’t know if I would be coming back and I refused to leave the task to anyone else. Not even his ex-girlfriend.

I had been distressed ever since I saw my tree on Halfblood Hill. I loved this place, but there were too many bad memories. This place had never been home. I had literally died the minute I got here and I joined the Hunters a few months after I came back. But still… My brother had made this his second home.

The only person I could manage to speak to about this was Annabeth. I should have told Reyna but we had an unwritten rule in the Hunters to not talk about our life before we were there. Some people didn't have a perfect life, there were all sorts of reasons girls escaped to join the Hunt.

I move toward his bed and sigh. I knew Piper had taken his camp Jupiter shirt with her, but I didn't want to say anything. I almost wish she hadn't because other than that there weren't any real signs that  _ Jason _ had been here. I go through his other clothes delicately, afraid I might break it or something. It was stupid, I know, but it was all I had left of him. I don’t hate Piper, she just-she makes me so angry. She broke my brother's heart and she just shows up playing the grieving girlfriend. She has a right to be upset but- it just doesn’t sit right.

I sigh and gather up all his clothes. I begin looking around for anything else. I nod as I remember that he probably left everything else at Camp Jupiter. I would have to talk to Hazel about that. Maybe Reyna would come with. I don't think I'll be able to go somewhere strange under that circumstance without her.

I stay on his bed for a few minutes. I can't move no matter how much I try. My mind races, thinking of everything we did as children up to the point where that bitch Juno took him away from me. My heart aches at the memory. That had been the final straw, what had caused me to run away.

I eventually pull myself out of the bed as soon as I feel a slight urge to, knowing that I wouldn't ever get up if I hadn't in that exact moment. I rush out of the cabin, not daring to look back.

* * *

*time skip to the next morning*

I wake up in Artemis's cabin and am confused at first when I remember that we came to the camp. My heart aches again as I remember last night. I hear the other Hunters get ready as I stay curled up in a ball, squeezing my eyes shut and hoping no one notices me.

I hear Reyna call my name so I bury myself in the pillows even more. "Thalia? Are you alright?" She asks.

"No." I whisper, surprising myself. There is silence until she uncovers the blanket I was using.

"What's wrong?" She asks earnestly.

I stare into her beautiful brown eyes and sigh, "I cleaned out Jason's cabin yesterday. I still have to clean out his room at Camp Jupiter."

Reyna steps back, "Oh… actually, Hazel and I sort of… kind of… Already did that?"

I scowl at her, my mind filling with rage, "What do you mean?" I groan, "Why did you do that? He was my brother!"

Reyna stood up, "We didn't want you to get upset even more. And clearly you would have been." She says. I open my mouth to say something when she continues, "And also, he was my best friend for  _ years _ . So was Hazel."

I put my head in my hands, how could I have forgotten that. She probably knew more about him than I do. I turn over on my side and get up. I avoid Reyna's gaze as I get ready and head out to the pavilion.

I see Reyna had already slipped out and was sitting next to Leo Valdez, who had draped the asexual flag around his shoulders. I tilt my head but shrug, it didn't surprise me. Comphet was something I was very familiar with.

Apparently, not everyone had that experience. Nico Di Angelo, my poor cousin, raised an eyebrow in Leo's direction and said something that nearly killed me.

"Wait Leo, you're a lesbian?" I choke on my drink and when I look up I see Leo's face has turned red. It was weird because I half expected him to just say "yep of course" but that seemed to have caught him off guard.

“Nico why do you think I’m a lesbian?” Leo asked. That was not the approach I was expecting but probably the most reasonable one.

Nico looked between Leo and Reyna, "Um well Reyna's a lesbian and you're wearing the same flag she normally wears…" he explained.

I cringe, that made logical sense but Reyna was also asexual, which I guess is something Nico doesn't know about. It's an entirely separate identity. 

Leo quickly looks around before clearing his throat, "I'm not a lesbian, Nico. I'm pretty sure I can't be one anyways. I'm asexual and biromantic." He said.

Nico spun around to Will but he seemed too shocked to say anything. Piper stood up, "So, how about we start preparing for that quest?"


	7. Leo

Everyone was staring at me during breakfast. Or at least it felt like that. I tried to come up with some jokes but that seemed to make people upset. The only people who I was comfortable around were Piper, Shel, Reyna and Thalia, but even the last two always hesitated before speaking to me. A pit in my heart sinks as I lean against cabin one again. I wish I got to see him one last time.

We went through so much together- summer camp and two quests, one of which went halfway around the world and back. He always looked out for me, even when I was being an idiot. For a while I felt empty because of that. As if all the firelight had left my body. It had been like that since the day I had learned about it. Even Calypso noticed it, which honestly surprised me. I smile softly as I remember her. We weren't meant to be and I needed a new start. I tense as I remember some of the arguments we had. I close my eyes and lean all the way back against the cabin wall, feeling the wood against my head and neck. I knew he was dead and there was nothing I could do about it.

A part of me blamed myself for his death. Which I knew was stupid but it made sense considering the prophecy.  _ To storm or fire the world must fall. _ Sure, we'd determined it probably meant  _ Gaea must fall _ , but that didn't help my dumbass anxiety. I had cheated death, so it was my fault he died. Just my luck. I didn't feel guilty, not like how I did with my mom. It was just another broken thing I would never be able to fix.

I reach into my toolbelt before remembering what Calypso told me about not comparing everything to machines. Ugh that was annoying. I see a group of people walk over to the pavilion and I quickly follow, looking back at Cabin 1 one last time. I feel many eyes on me as I sit down at the Hephestus table and I smirk. Finally more Team Leo fans. Or not, more likely not. Ha! They didn't know what they were missing.

Percy slid right next to me, "Sup?" He asked. I shoot finger guns at him and smiled, "Nothing much. The quest is sometime this week, I think." I tell him.

He nods and leans back, looking a little unusually serious. "How've you been, it feels like it's been ages since I last saw you."

"Eh it's only been like a few months but," I said, "but really? I've never been better. I finally did some soul searching and I feel like myself.” 

He raises an eyebrow, "Really? I didn't know you believed in that stuff." He says but I shrug.

"Eh whatever you want to call it I guess. Point is, Leo Badboy McShizzle Supreme is confident and happy.”

Percy laughs and I notice a bi pride flag next to him, "Oh sick, you listen to Sweater Weather, too?"

Percy looks at the flag, "Yeah man, the funny thing is I don't think there was a single straight person on the Argo II." He says and takes it out.

For some reason, that reassured me of myself. Not that I needed validation or anything, it just reassured me, hearing someone acknowledge my identity. I look up and Percy is smiling. For a second, he reminds me of Jason and my heart stops, which was stupid. I had stupidly fallen in love with the son of Jupiter during summer camp, only to learn that those memories were fake. He and Piper were the only people in the world I thought I could trust, even though I didn't share everything with them at first. Of course, being me, I hid those feelings away until I was at my lowest point and exploded. Ah that was fun.

For the first time in a long time I feel the cement of grief settle in my stomach. I feel my eyes gloss over with tears and try to swallow them down. I have to remind myself I’m allowed to feel. Oh Jason… Whatever the reason I loved you. Be it your personality as a whole or just your little mannerisms I did. The way I always felt calm near you because your presence radiated a control I didn’t fully grasp.

I am about to cover my face when Percy speaks up, "Hey buddy, you good? You need some time or-"

"I'm fine," I snap, then take a deep breath and reconsider, "Actually, I really just wish I got to see my...best friend one last time, you know?"

"We all do, Leo but we just have to remember he’d want us to move on and find our own happiness."

"Yes but-" my words catch in my throat and I cough, "Yeah, you're right." For some reason I didn't want to tell him about my crush. Not yet, it wasn't the time, I can’t tell him that deep down some part of me still blames myself. I was supposed to die and when I cheated it he paid the price. I quickly stand up and start whatever activities were planned today.

* * *

*time skip*

Piper was pacing around Bunker Nine, which somehow I elected our hangout to be.

"Is it just me or does Thalia seem like,  _ really _ annoyed at me?"

Shel tilted her head at her girlfriend, 

"I don't think so but I honestly just think she's upset." She admitted.

Piper turns to me and I shrug, "She did seem a little mad at you for some reason. You think you did anything to get her upset?"

“I hate to be the one to say this but could it have something to do with Jason?”

I clench my jaw and start fidgeting ‘’, "What?! What makes you say that, Shel?"

She shrugs, "I mean if my dead brother's ex showed up and took his stuff I'd be kind of skeptical, no offense, love."

Piper sighs, "Yeah you're right I mean- ugh I feel so selfish for feeling this way even though I know I shouldn't."

I stay quiet as my brain whispers to me that it was all my fault. I shake my head away from those thoughts but it still hurts. I had unintentionally hurt someone I loved again.

"Don't feel selfish, Piper." I whisper and she sighs, "Yeah I know other people miss him and he was your best friend but like..."

"It's all my fault!" I blurt out and the room goes silent, "The prophecy- I cheated death and now he… I loved him, I mean not like that- well sort of but more just a crush but not like overshadowing how you feel but- ugh I should just shut up."

“You know what maybe it was your fault and maybe it was my fault. I went on that quest with him knowing damn well only one of us would make it out.” I hear her voice break, her voice gets quiet,”We could go through ifs all day but it won’t bring him back.”

For the first time I felt understood. Even if it wasn’t said we understood each other. We both blamed ourselves for the death of someone we loved. Words didn’t need to be exchanged any further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW we now have a few prequel and sequel fanfictions planned for this storyline.


	8. Magnus

The Hermes cabin looked like it had been used many times. I've slept in some weird places, so I didn't really think much of it, but in a strange way it reminded me of when I went camping with my mom. Sure, things were easier back then, there was more of a rhythm and pattern of life. Yeah I know I die pretty regularly now, that's one pattern at least, but everything else was always changing. After everything that’s happened the familiarity is comforting. Death was supposed to be peaceful, this is anything but.

After Alex kissed me for the third time, we finally got together. I thought that would make everything fit into place for once, it would all get better and feel… Right. Yet there was a part of me that still felt empty. Maybe because I didn't know how long it would last. Maybe because a part of me was sure I had pushed too far too fast. 

Before I can think too much about it, Alex tosses an apple at me, "You should hurry if you still want breakfast."

I smile at her but can't quite get it to reach my eye. I know she is going to call my bluff. She always does because somehow she always knows when I’m not being honest about how I’m feeling.

"Alright since I can't kill you, what's up?" She asks and I open my mouth to speak but my words fail me, "I just-" I take a deep breath,”I’m scared."

My heart drops as she walks closer but I realize she is moving to sit next to me. "Is it the quest?" She asks.

I stare into her mismatched eyes, which was normally hard for me to do. "No, I just- What if I’m pushing you too fast? I can’t handle losing you and if I am I’ll do just that.”

She stays quiet for a few seconds and sits right next to me, "We just started dating, Magnus."

"Yeah but-" My eye catches the scar that was left on her side from that electric axe thing, "Jeez are you okay?"

"What?" She looks at the scar, "Oh, I'm fine. She didn't do much damage."

I reach out and she flinches away, I draw back my hand guiltily. That could have ruined everything. I drop the subject and stare at the ceiling with no intentions of getting up.

I hear her sigh and whisper, "Don't worry about me, I'm… fine." Her voice cracked and I looked up at her.

She was sitting on the bunk she had slept in curled in a ball. She clearly wasn’t fine. I remembered what she'd told me to do at the Jackson-Blofis house. I carefully walk next to her and sit down in front of the bed.

Remembering she flinched last time I had reached for her I decided to ask before trying to hold her close,” Do you mind if I hug you?”

She tenses but grabs my hand instead. I decided to let her take the lead in physical contact. Clearly she is having some issues with that and I’m going to not push her. “I’m not afraid of your touch.” 

I look up at her, "Are you sure? I mean, I want you to be comfortable."

“I’m sure. I suppose I’ve shown my hand a little.” She lets out a bitter chuckle as I contemplate the meaning behind her words. “I wasn’t afraid of your touch, never have been, I was scared of the inspection that would follow. More so the findings of it. What you would think of it, of me."

I stare at her in disbelief, “Not a single thing on your body could make me think less of you."

Her eyes widened, "Wow Chase, buy me dinner first."

I roll my eyes, " I mean, a bad tattoo might make me question your judgement and or drinking habits, but nothing could make me think less of you.”

She slowly gets up but remains in her bed before I continue.

"I'd buy you dinner but I'm fresh out of cash and I don't think a dead person should order food very often."

She rolls her eyes, "Yeah yeah, alright."

I carefully grab her hand, "I'm serious though."

She raises an eyebrow, "About dinner?"

I laugh, "No, I mean about you. You are perfect."

She shoves me gently, "Aw come on sunshine you're makin’ me blush.” Alex throws her hand over her heart while giving me a lopsided smirk and I chuckle. Balance has been restored.

She leans up and sweetly kisses my cheek and my face turns into a tomato. She smirks and I sit down next to her, I quickly glance up before wrapping my arms around her. I kiss her cheek, “Come on my little trickster we have a quest to prepare for.”

Alex leans back, "Alright," she stares up at me, "I have to say I'm not entirely sure about questing with a bunch of strangers."

“I’m not either, but if Annabeth and Percy trust them they have to at least be good at it.” I still had my doubts but we have to think positive here.

“I trust their skills, it's their personalities I worry about, c’mon not everyone can handle us and our wacky ways. I’m also not sure about that emo kid.”

I nod, "I mean I agree but he is from the 30s, we can't really blame him for not knowing this stuff." 

“I know that but it- I’ll give him a chance, but I won’t promise to like him if he doesn’t earn it. I also will call him out when he needs to be called out.

I take her hand gently, trying to help her with her stress. I'll admit it had hurt when Nico said that to me, it wasn't exactly cool to be invalidated the second you walk into a pride celebration. “I wouldn’t expect that of you. You're right that he needs to catch up and learn but we can’t hold the fact that he was never taught against him”

She sits up and sighs, "I know that it's just- you don't understand. People can look at you and their gaydar doesn't normally start flaring. You don't have to constantly explain yourself to random people you just met. You don’t have random people meet you and lose all respect for you immediately."

I bit my tongue, I knew I shouldn't feel guilty but a part of me still did. I shook those thoughts away to focus on what she had to say.

She continued, "In case you haven't noticed, Sunshine, I look very not cishet. I mean it's not like I _want_ to look cishet, I try very hard to be my fabulous self each and everyday," she sighed, "but that doesn't mean everyone appreciates or accepts it."

I couldn’t stand the negativity for a second longer. I pulled Alex into a hug, “Me and all the people who matter in your life do appreciate and accept you.”

She hugs me back and smiles, "You still owe me dinner, Chase." I snort and kiss her cheek.

“You’ll get your dinner after the quest Little Trickster.”

She crosses her arms, "I guess I'll have to hold you to that, Mango Cheese."

I lean in to kiss her again when the door opens, "Stop making out guys, we need to talk." Shel laughs.


	9. Shel

Being a daughter of Athena was kind of weird when all of your siblings were blonde and blue eyed. When I mentioned this to Annabeth, she just looked confused and hurriedly switched the topic. Okay then.

I had other things on my mind. Piper and I had been dating for more than a month. I really really like her but there was something digging at the back of my mind. I wasn't being entirely honest with her and I was scared if I waited too long, she'd hate me. I sigh and get ready for the day, putting on my new camp Halfblood t-shirt, a pair of comfortable jeans, and my nose ring. I am the last person to leave my cabin and my heart skips when I see Piper waiting for me. I walk over and kiss her cheek, “Mornin, sweetie." I tell her and she smiles.

"Come on," She starts leading me to the campfire but I stop her, "I uh, there's something I should've told you a long time ago." I tell her.

She stops and frowns, "Did one of my friends interrogate you? I told them not to threaten you so much."

My eyes go wide and I start looking around for them as if they are going to pop up out of nowhere, "No, not yet at least. But it's about our relationship."

She tenses but her expression turns neutral and my mind starts racing. I had messed things up already. She was never going to accept this. She probably hates me, she's going to break up with me no matter what so I should just spit it out, rip the bandaid off.

"I'm polyamourous," I spit out. She nods slowly. The thing was, I wasn't ashamed or embarrassed about being polyamourous. I'd been in open relationships before- not that any of them lasted that long, most highschool relationships don't. I was just scared she would break up with me.

Piper takes a deep breath, "I think I heard of that before… That's when you date multiple people?"

I sigh in relief, "Yeah, basically." I start shaking my hands, "So uh…"

Piper stares into my eyes and I watch as the colors of her eyes shift before looking away, "I need to think about it. I'll admit I'm a bit hesitant, but at the same time we could try to work this out together."

I nod, "Okay… um are you sure? I mean I'm happy but I also want you to be happy-"

Piper cuts me off, "Look I'm still not 100% sure, but I want to try because I care about you and want you to be satisfied in this relationship. I’ve also been curious about it since I learned what it was." Her voice lowered a bit at the last part but I decided not to mention it.

"Now come on, we need to get breakfast before they don't allow us!" She told me. My heartbeat finally returned to a normal pace as we walked to the pavilion. 

* * *

*Time skip*

I felt so much more relaxed after coming out to my girlfriend. I decided to take a walk around the camp to clear my mind from my previous anxieties. I’m almost surprised at how well that went even though I know I shouldn’t be. Piper’s the best girlfriend a girl could ask for. She's so understanding. I smile and then, "Oh fuck," I hear in the distance.

I walk over and see Leo crouched next to the metal dragon that he flew in on, "Hey you need a hand?" I ask.

He looks up, "Oh yeah sure just a second-" 

I hear a series of metal clangs and clashes before he speaks again, “Some damage happened when we crashed. For the most part it's good but this bit here is giving me trouble.” He pointed to a mess of wires and metal.

I look at it and walk over, "What's the problem exactly? I know quite a bit about mechanics."

His eyes widened, "Wait, really?" I nod and he explains what the problem is.

"What exactly kind of machine is this? I don't think I've ever seen it before."

Leo shakes his head, "it's an automaton, pretty cool really, it basically has a mind if it's own and-" his voice faltered.

"Yeah?" I ask, he shakes his head, "Sorry, I tend to go off a lot when talking about machines."

I shrug, "I don't mind, really. It's cool to find another person to talk about machines with," I look back at the Camp, "the Athena cabin is cool but the only wisdom they really care about is battles and books. I like to think of things logically, like building things, if that makes any sense."

He continues working on the dragon but responds, "Yeah, I mean I know some Athena kids like that I guess. Annabeth Chase? She's redesigning Olympus, plus she helped plan cabins for minor gods." He told me. Wow, I needed to talk to that girl more often.

“That’s crazy impressive. The amount of not only knowledge but technical skill required for that plus the real world experience, dam.” I realized I’d been going on, but what can I say if you're interested in this kind of thing it’s amazing to hear about someone you know and can talk to having knowledge on it.

Leo smiles and continues working, "That should be it. Thanks Shel, and uh," he clears his throat, "I'm here if you ever want to talk about machines with anyone, just know that." He says and finally looks up.

His face turns serious, "Do you think it's childish?" 

I tilt my head at him, "What do you 

mean?" I move to sit closer to him and he sighs.

"I mean, I've been told that basically everything I do is childish. I'm just too obsessed with stuff. I can talk about stuff for hours and people will just tell me to shut up."

Oh yeah, I definitely know what that feels like. I clear my throat before speaking, “I get it, people want their kids to get into engineering and mechanics until they actually try to talk about it.”I also knew it was more than just mechanics. There were so many things I could talk about for hours but no one would ever care to listen. Until, I hoped, maybe now.

Leo stands up and helps me get up, "Hey there's this karaoke thing today- it's part of the whole Pride thing Will organized. Do you want to come with me to it?" He asks.

"Oh uh sure!" I tell him.

He takes my hand, "Come on, the Apollo cabin is this way." he leads me to a cabin and we walk inside.

Leo pushes our way to the front, "Hey Will, can we go next?" Leo asks Will Solace, the head of the cabin. He shrugs, "I guess, what song did you guys decide on?"

I look at Leo and he gets a mischievous glint in his eyes, "You know the one." Will grimaces and then forces a smile, "Sure thing, Leo."

We run over to the stage and Will turns on the music and I want to slap myself in the face. Of course he chose this song.

"She's just a girl but she's fire," he starts and the audience groans. There are a few cheers in the back coming from a few Hephestus kids.

He sings the first verse when he gives me the mic, I snort but go along with it, throwing my head back and singing with all my might, "THIS GIRL IS ON FIRRRREEEEEE! THIS GIRL IS ON FIRRRRRREEEEEEEEE! SHE'S WALKING ON FIREEEEE! THIS GIRL IS ON FIRREEEEEEEEE OOOOOOOOOOOH OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOHOHOHOOH OOOOOOHHH OH'' I realize that he's singing the harmony and I smile as we continue. By the time we finish we are both on the floor, cracking up.

I catch his eyes for a few seconds and my heart stops before the next person starts and we have to get up. It felt good to be so carefree and joking. Piper runs up from behind and gives me a hug, I smile and relax into her arms.

"You guys were amazing." She laughs. The emo boy we met the other day pulls up a chair at our table. I kiss Piper's cheek. I wish things could stay like this forever.


	10. Nico

Karaoke was fun, if you count people screaming at the top of their lungs some form of enjoyment I guess. It was not my cup of tea per say, but Will loved it. That was, until I messed it up for everyone.

I sat down at the table where Piper and Shel were and then the conversation flowed from everyone. It was a rare moment of calm. I didn’t say much but it made me happy to see everyone getting along. Will speaks over the mic, "Next up is a very special song, Don't Stop Believing." A few cheers go up and Will smirks. I shrug until the song starts playing.

"We're no strangers to love," the audience groans. I’m not completely sure why, it sounds like an okay song.

"I can't believe he Rickrolled us." Piper groans. I raise an eyebrow, "What?" I ask.

Leo snorts, "of course grandpa over here doesn't know the pain of a rickrolling." 

"Yeah when is Will gonna teach you about actual music." Percy says. Will shoves them lightly away.

"Hey come on guys, he’s working on it.”

"Not fast enough though," Alex Fierro remarked and I gulp, "Also, he/him for now." He says. I avoid his stare.

"Look I just don't want to go on a quest with someone who's ignorant."

“He’s not ignorant by choice. It's not his fault that he was frozen in time.”

He rolls his eyes, "Whatever, he can still learn, he can educate himself."

Leo snorts and Alex faces him, "Easy for you to say," 

“Shut the Hell up Valdez you don't know shit about my life.” His voice became stern.

"Not everyone had a supportive family, access to the resources of however you were able to figure out your identity. It's not safe for everyone to educate themselves like you did."

Alex grows visibly more tense, 

like a tiger poised to strike,”You think it was safe for me to learn who I was? To explore my identity? Hell no but I’m done crying about it. I educated myself and learned what I needed to. I’m struggling to understand why the emo kid can’t do the same.”

I stand back and words are caught in my throat, "I-I- you're right." I whisper.

This seems to catch Alex off guard but I can still tell he's upset, "Oh… Well good."

Everyone seemed to slowly trickle out after that. Whatever I did seems to have stopped whatever weird fight had emerged. Leo starts to walk towards Alex but Piper holds him back. Alex walks towards me, "Uh can I just talk to you for a second?" he says. I hesitate but nod, "Uh sure."

Will gives me a worried look but leaves as well. Alex and I are the only ones left when he finally lets out a sigh. "What did you want to say to me?" I ask him while messing with my skeleton ring.

“I don’t blame you for not knowing. You weren’t born into an accepting time nor family. My father wasn't exactly accepting when he learned I wasn't his perfect image of me. Just- know that I'm always here if you want to learn more LGBTQ stuff. I'm not an educator, and I'm not going to coddle you, I just think you need it. And don't think I'm not gonna call you out for stuff, that shit's on you. ”

I sigh and cover my ring with my hand, "If I'm being honest, I'm still a little scared to learn." I whisper, not looking up to face him.

"What are you so afraid of? Learning that other sexualities exist than gay and strsight, and other genders than male and female?"

I scrunch my shoulders, "No, that's not what I mean," my voice falters, "I'm afraid of learning something...and then the memories…" I look up desperately at him.

He frowns, "I take it your coming out wasn't that good." He guesses. I clench my jaw, remembering what happened in Croatia. I remembered everything so vividly, it was painfully real. I had only told one other person than my therapist what had happened, but not even Will knew the whole story. And here I was, ready to share my entire life story detail for detail with a person I'd only met a few days ago.

I nod, "The thing is, everyone makes jokes about me being from the 30s but really, but I don't remember much. My dad erased my memories. However, I still get flashbacks every once in a while," I clench my fist, "The first time I realized I liked boys, I had a flashback to all the homophobic stuff in the 30s I guess. At least in Italy and the U.S." I lie down on the ground and wait a minute before continuing. Alex stays silent, processing what I just said.

"I didn't know anything else, so I thought there was something deeply wrong with me," this catches his attention and I cough, "I held this all in until I was fucking outted by Eros."

His jaw drops and he begins walking around the cabin, "So you were outed by freaking _Cupid_ of all people?" He asks incredulously. The look he was giving scared me even though I knew it wasn't towards me.

I close my eyes and consider adding my actual response to his question from before. "Every time I learn something about this time or whatever, I get scared that it'll bring me back to that time again. Like I'll never escape that time."

It felt weird finally putting it all into words, especially to someone I barely knew. He sighs and sits down, but avoids looking in my direction.

"Yeah, I get that. At least to an extent," he became quieter, “it wasn't that great for me,either.”

I heard him take a deep breath, his shoulders visibly tensing, “My mom was Loki and, much to my dad and stepmom's disgust, she made certain my dad and stepmom would never forget that tidbit. They hated me from the jump, my dad tolerated me in the loosest application of the word. After realizing they couldn't force my gender out of me, my dad kicked me out. I died a few years after that."

I just sit there in shocked silence. He had never struck me as a person who would have had a horrible coming out story. He seemed so… confident in himself. Alex still hadn't moved from where he had been for the last few minutes. I was about to ask if he was alright when he spoke,”I know what's running through your head,it's been the same song and dance for years," 

I narrow my eyebrows, "What are you talking about?" I ask.

He continues, "The words about to come out of your mouth were going to be ‘are you okay?’ Honest answer is no, but the way I see it I can either let that hold me down or work on myself and move past it.”

Now that, I could understand, after Bianca died everyone kept asking me how I felt. After Tartarus as well. I always wanted to yell in their faces, ' what the fuck do you think AM I OKAY?' Because the answer was obviously no. I don't think I've been okay since the day Percy Jackson broke his promise to me. This violent watermelon person could understand that. 

"Yeah, I get that feeling." I finally relaxed. I don't add on but a mutual understanding passes between us. I could tell we had bonded. Alex was now a friend.


	11. Alex

We stayed there in silence for a few minutes after that bit of trauma sharing. My stomach was starting to hurt for some reason. I wasn’t hungry and the dead can’t get sick. It was probably just stress. I see a flash of blonde hair and my heart skips a beat. Then I smirk, "Hey Maggie," I call out. He turns around and jogs over.

"There you are, I've been looking for you everywhere." His eyes glance at Nico, "Is he giving you any trouble?" He lowers his voice. I shake my head, "Bye Nico and uh- thanks." I tell him before Magnus and I leave.

Nico hesitates but nods and we head off to the Hermes cabin. "So… what did you guys talk about?" Magnus asks me.

I shrug, "Just some trauma bonding stuff," I stop as I remember what he told me, I scowl, "I'm gonna murder Cupid."

“What did Cupid do that’s punishable by death?”

I give a bitter laugh, "Oh nothing, he just fucking outed the kid. Piece of shit."

“I’ll help hide the body.” he chuckles and kisses my cheek.

"Of course you will, babe." I whisper, accenting the term of endearment.

His face goes bright pink and turns around, "That's my job."

I laugh, "So yeah, then I told him about," I hesitate, wondering if it was worth it to bring up again, "About my dad." I feel him tense beside me and his face drops.

“What prompted that conversation? You barely know the guy,” honestly, not even I knew that. He was probably the first person to be straightforward with me, not caring about boundaries.

“We ended up being the only people left in the room after the fight. He agreed with what I said. I respect that it's his story to tell so I won’t give details, but the guy has seen some serious shit. It felt like he’d be the first person to completely understand the fucked up shit that happened with my family.” I get into my bunk bed and lean my head against the pillow.

Magnus is quiet for a bit before responding, "I'm glad you two worked it out." He says finally.

A part of me knew he wasn't telling the truth, but I was so tired and upset that I couldn't bring myself to argue. "Yeah," I tell him, "See you in the morning, Maggie."

"'Night, love you," he responds and I have to force myself to stay calm from his words.

\------------time skip to breakfast------------------

Nico and I decided to sit together at breakfast, mainly because neither of us knew exactly where to sit. We talked and I was now sure he was a friend. I helped answer a couple questions and in turn he taught me a bit about Mythomagic. It is a ridiculously dorky game but it sounded fun. His boyfriend comes over and wraps his arm around Nico. I carefully glance up at him, hoping he's not mad from yesterday.

“Look I’m sorry about yesterday. I don’t agree with everything you said but for the most part you were right. I was trying to defend Nico but that doesn’t make it ok for me to attack you."

I nod slowly, "I get that, don't worry, we talked it out last night." I explain to him.

Will sighs, "Well that's a relief," Just then Magnus walks up to the table and my heart beats faster. Magnus looks between me and the other guys and awkwardly stands there.

"Uh hey," he says, not really addressing Nico or Will, "What are you guys doing?" He asks.

"We're just playing Mythomagic. Also we're leaving for the quest tomorrow, apparently."

Magnus nods but still looks sad, "Oh, cool."

I raise an eyebrow at him, then blush and laugh out, "Are you seriously  _ jealous? _ " I ask him incredulously.

He stumbles back, "I- what? No, of course not- why would I-" I smirk and move closer to him.

“I can read you like a book Magnus, you’re jealous, I’d just like to know why.” I look up at him and wink.

He looks back and forth between me and- "Nico?!" I am so shocked I fall out of my chair laughing.

“Sunshine I promise you there is nothing there. We exchanged trauma and became friends. Plus, I need my little ray of light.” I say between laughs

Magnus's jaw was hanging and Nico helpfully added, "Plus, I'm a homosexual so…"

I rolled my eyes. Had he been a straight dude and said that, I would automatically have assumed he was homophobic. Very few gay guys use the word "homosexual" non ironically, but I cut him some slack.

"Yeah everyone I date is gay as fuck though," I joke. Magnus smiles but his frown quickly returns.

Magnus looks down, "Can we...talk? Like, in private." He asks. 

His expression and demeanor worried me but nonetheless I replied,”Yeah of course!” I grab his hand and we walk behind a random cabin.

"So? What did you want to talk about?" I ask him and narrow my eyebrows.

Magnus avoids my stare, "Are you sure you're okay?" He asks, "I know talking about you dad is hard for you. I just wanna make sure…" he trails off.

“I’m okay, I’m great actually it felt good to talk about it and not have it exposed by someone else.” Okay, part of that was true. It still hurt to talk about but I didn't want to worry him, Magnus worried too much as it is.

“If you say so then I trust you.” his voice sounded sad, like he didn't know what to do anymore.

I take his hand in mine and sigh, "I-" I shake my head and kiss his cheek, "I want to tell you but I can't. I just can't bring myself to tell most people anymore. And it fucking hurt to tell him last night, believe me-" my voice cracks and I notice that my eyes are starting to form tears.

No more words are exchanged but he pulls me into a hug and I know we are good. Everything is okay. Magnus cups my face with his hands, "I wasn't jealous because I thought you liked him. I was just confused as to why you shared so much with him and not me, but I get it now. I respect it, you two have a lot in common." There was so much I wanted to say in response to that, how it felt different with people I hardly knew, how I would tell him more but I'm too scared. Instead, his lips meet with mine and my mind goes blank.

I hear the voice of Will Solace, "Hey Alex, we need to prepare for the quest." He calls out. I curse under my breath and kiss Magnus one last time before Will calls out again, "Y'all better stop making out and come over here." I grumble under my breath and curse him several times in multiple languages, but head over.

"Yeah we're coming over." I drag Magnus by the hand over to sunshine boy and Nico. We sit down at the table.

“So the prophecy, in typical prophecy fashion is ridiculously cryptic.”

"Are we gonna analyze this? Because I did not sign up for an LA class, I signed up for a gay adventure." I say

Nico groans, "Oh gods no, anything but that, please." 

Will rolls his eyes at us, "No, idiots, we just need to at least theorize, figure out what it means.”

Magnus nods his head, how was he agreeing with this madness? We don't need a plan, we should just charge in. "He has a point," Magnus states, "We need to at least know what we're doing first."

I sat down on the grass this was going to be a long ride, "Alright, lay it on me. What do we have so far?" I ask.

"Aphrodite is definitely involved and screwing with love lives again,” Will chimed in.

“The Titan War is definitely coming back to the surface.” Nico provides. I looked between both of them, something was telling me that this wasn't good.

"What about the whole mountain thing?" I ask, "Was there a weapon someone dropped or maybe someone used there?"

“I guess we’d have to ask the Romans about that, they were the ones in that fight.” Will explains. Nico perks up.

"We should ask Reyna, she was there when the battle took place," Nico said, "I heard a lot of demigods talking about it sometimes when I was there but it's not something many seemed comfortable about." 

I raise an eyebrow to this. I wondered how Nico and Reyna had become friends, how they cared for each other a lot. They seemed really close, heck Reyna seemed to have practically adopted the kid. And it seemed like Nico had accepted Reyna had a parental figure, though he would probably beg to differ.

"Yeah, but first we should figure everything else out." Will says, "What about 'the fruit of the dove must be returned?'" 

Magnus makes a choking sound, "The what?" I snicker but Will ignores us.

"Aphrodite's symbol is the apple right? Maybe we should assume- at least  _ for no _ w- that's what it means."

Nico looks at us all as if still not understanding the joke, "Anyways, what about the 'creature's wrathful deed'? What does that mean?" Nico asks.

Will considers this but shrugs, "Vengeance for the Titan’s after the loss in the war if he’s able to regain his weapon, maybe,”

"Sounds fun," I say dryly. I hesitate before bringing up the last part, "I'm what do you guys think about the last line?" I ask.

They all go silent. I take a deep breath and pray to my mom that it's not what I think it is. I rarely prayed to my mom, but if anyone was worth it, it was probably Magnus. He takes my hand and electricity flows through it, "We'll figure that out when we come to it," 

I squeezed his hand and the tall dark haired girl who adopted Nico approached our group.


	12. Reyna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> content warning: Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria and almost panic attack

So far this trip has proven to be eventful. What was supposed to be a pride celebration where I saw old friends and spent time with my girlfriend has turned into yet another dangerous quest. So when Nico asked me to tell his friends about my time in the Titan War, I sort of wanted to run. Then I remembered that it was important for this quest, so I forced myself to stay.

I spot him sitting with the Norse kids and sunshine boy at the pavilion and head over. "I heard you guys wanted me to explain some stuff about the Titan War? Because of the prophecy." I clarify with them. 

Sunshine boy clears his throat before responding,”If you wouldn’t mind it could really help us figure out what we are doing for the quest." 

I take a deep breath before beginning, "Well, it was mainly led by me, Jason and," I hesitate, wondering if it was even necessary to tell them, "And Octavian." 

“Octavian? Scrawny, insane, war crazed Octavian?” Nico asks. It's a valid response, after all he had only seen Octavian in the middle of breaking and when he finally snapped.

"Yes and no." I tell him, "The same person, but before that. He- he wasn't always like that. He used to be a really smart and fun to be around person.” I missed that part of him, if I'm really being honest. It seems crazy to think but he was a good friend when I got to camp. He understood coming from a controlling family. 

Sunshine boy snorts, "What happened then?”

I glare at him, "A fucking war, you _greaceus_ imbecile." I frown, "And… He lost his parents at a really young age, claimed that he saw a bunch of Greeks kill them," I shake my head, "No one believed him, of course. That was, until Percy showed up." I still remembered the shock waves Percy had sent through camp.

“Octavian never felt good enough for his family name because he was anemic. That marked him as different and physically weaker. He clawed his way to the top and the stress of helping lead one side of a war caused him to lose part of himself on the way. We all saw things and did things that changed us but Octavian… no one believed him and- we refused to help people back then." Camp Jupiter didn't really care about mental health that much back then. Sure, we knew it was important to learn about, but no one talked about it and it made people feel ashamed.

Everyone went silent for a long time, Nico was staring at me in disbelief. The Norse kids looked like they were trying to piece things together. Will refused to meet my gaze.

“Anyway he wasn’t always the person you met. You saw him as he was mentally broken and spiraling.”

"Okay we get it," Will snaps suddenly, moving his hands quickly, "We _get it_. Just please- can you help us with the 

prophecy?"

His frustration surprises me, “I- uh yeah. What do you need to know?”

Will looks around at everyone else and starts running his hands through his hair, “Did any weapons get left behind after the battle? And if they did, do you know which titan it belonged to?”

"Um, maybe? I remember the Titan had one that fell, I think."

Will sighs in relief, "Wow great, thank you." He says.

"Whatever," I say and cross my arms. Will's face goes pale and he slowly nods.

"Sorry," he says. "For what?" I ask. "Uh sorry, never mind, sorry." He says and starts to walk around the pavilion.

I remember my training for praetor and realize what's going on. I make my voice calmer, "Will, can I talk to you for a second?"

He looks around at his friends and then back at me, "Sure, sure, yeah." He says.

I smile as genuinely as I can and we walk, "Will, it's going to be okay, I'm not mad at you." I assure him.

"Then where are you taking me? What are we doing?" He asks and my heart aches in sympathy.

We stop at a random area in the strawberry fields. No one was there at the moment and no one could kick us out. If I wanted to get through to him, to explain something to him, I needed him to be comfortable.

"Being a praetor, I had to learn about a lot of things to do with ADHD and dyslexia." I explained to him, "Is it fair for me to guess that you didn't get to?"

He opens his mouth before I add, "It's okay if you haven't, most people don't know much about ADHD and how it really affects a person."

"I mean, I know the basics, like that it means we're hyper and we can't pay attention and stuff," he sighs, "Honestly though, I focus mainly on healing injuries." He admits.

I nod and recall what specifically I learned from my training about rejection ADHD. I hoped at the very least I could help Will and maybe indirectly help other Greek demigods.

I remember and continue, "There's this thing in ADHD called Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, basically feeling like a physical and mental pain from so much as perceiving rejection or judgement." He looks really surprised by this news.

"I thought that happened to everyone… or that I was just too sensitive," I shake my head. I had heard that from a surprising number of other demigods. Heck even before I learned about it, I thought I was just super sensitive and weak. At Camp Jupiter, it was basically survival of the fittest, so I was scared to ever bring it up to anyone. I felt alone for so long, like maybe I was just crazy or something.

I sigh and stare at the strawberry bushes, "You're not weak, Will. And you're not alone." I told him at last.

"Well that's great, we should go back now, they're probably wondering what we're doing." He says.

I bit my lip, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? I find that usually helps." I tell him.

I hear Will move around and take a deep breath, "I don't want to bother you- it's my problem, not yours, you shouldn't worry about me." He says softly.

I look up and shake my head, "Um no, I know my limits, you aren't bothering me. You are dating my child- my very close friend, and frankly, I don't want him to get hurt. Now I'm not saying you will, I would never ever imply that, l just want him to be safe."

Will looked back at Nico and the Norse kids and then turned back to me, "It's my fault, it's all my fault." He whispered, "I know that, and everyone knows that, I know that they all hate me."

I look back at them as well, "What are you talking about? You didn't do anything." I tell him. 

Will puts his head in his hands and moves his hands through his hair, "Octavian… it's my fault he's dead, I left him alone when he was- when he was vulnerable and- and in danger and I knew that he was going to die because of that. And he did. And now you hate me and EVERYONE hates me and I should just-"

I'll admit, I was starting to get a little uncomfortable around him. I wanted to be there for him, but this was scaring me a little, "Will, you were fourteen when that happened," he stops shaking and looks at me, "I don't exactly know the training that you get at Camp Halfblood to become a medic, but I sure as hell know the training at Camp Jupiter wasn't enough for anyone."

In terms of fighting, the camp was more than prepared. However, that was completely useless when the mental health of everyone was never supported. Sure, as a praetor I had to know the basics, clearly much more than they taught at Camp Halfblood. I remembered the weeks and months following the Titan war, I was so distressed, especially after Jason went missing. 

"I still should have done something. Anything! He died and I should have done something to stop it." Will looked so broken. This kid had been through so much more than I realized.

"That's the point, there was nothing you could do. Octavian was too far gone and trying could have cost us the war." I can tell what I've said changes nothing in his head. I'm not sure I really expected it to. "Go clear your head kid. Take the rest of the day to calm down and get in the right mindset. We quest tomorrow. I'll tell the others to do the same."

Will hesitated and looked towards the Apollo cabin, then to where Nico and the Norse kids were, "Okay," he whispered and slowly made his way to his cabin.

I walked over to the others, Nico was staring after Will as he walked away, "We should relax for the rest of the day, pack whatever you think you'll need for the quest. We're going tomorrow."

Alex Fierro nodded and wrapped his arm around Magnus, "Finally, come on, Chase." They walked a few steps when Magnus turned back, "You okay, Nico?"

Nico didn't look back at them but he responded, "No, I'm fine, just give me a minute," he said. I frown, wondering if he was feeling the same way Will was about Octavian. I know that they had both been there when it happened. Nico probably also felt partially responsible.

"Is he okay?" Nico asked softly, finally looking away. I bit my lip, I honestly didn't know how to answer that.

"I'm not really sure honestly. I wish I could tell you." That answer was clearly not the one he was hoping for.

"Yeah okay," he whispered and started to make his way towards the Hades cabin.


	13. Will

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Anxiety and more RSD as well as a bit of survivor's guilt.

I was a failure. I rushed out behind the Apollo cabin and kept walking until I was sure I was alone. I sat down and hugged my knees to my chest. Logically I knew Reyna was right. There was nothing I could have done and trying would have cost us the war. But some part of me felt responsible. Her words had literally hurt me before, as if she knew exactly how I was involved and was saying all the things I did wrong. Saying this was my fault. She was right. How could I let that happen? Who knows what else I could let happen? What if I  _ did _ hurt Nico like she said I would?

My heart stopped as I considered that. Nico, sweet, sarcastic, and all around wonderful Nico. He had been through so much. What if I did hurt him? What if I ended up the reason he broke? My breathing quickened and my heart sank. Reyna was right and I needed to get away from him. Before I hurt him, or something worse.

I take a deep breath. No, that was not what Reyna said. My brain is just messing with me. Something it seemed to be very good at. Fuck there must have been something very wrong with it. I couldn’t even trust my own brain. I shake my head and count to ten, taking deep breaths in and out.

I close my eyes and recount the conversation we had. She had been trying to help me, I realized. My stomach ached as I realized how selfish I had been to not realize that. She wanted me to get better in order to help Nico, that I understood. So what if me being gone was the answer? I immediately shake my head. He had already lost so much. So had I. Me breaking up with him would be the last thing he needed.

I suddenly think back to the Titan war. That is when everything changed. All of the cabin’s were hit. The entire camp was really but, Apollo cabin. We lost so many. We lost our head counselor. I lost my brother. I was 13 and I was suddenly in charge of a whole group of people. I know I wasn’t as strong as I should have been, as strong as my siblings needed me to be. I became a year round camper.

A chill ran down my spine as I realized it had been two years since I last saw my mom. Did she even know I was alive? I scrambled through my pockets and pulled out a drachma, I mumbled a prayer to Iris and tossed the drachma into the rainbow a puddle was forming.

"Show me Naomi Solace, Austin, Texas," I say.

I quickly wipe tears from my eyes as my mom's image forms, her eyes widen and a smile forms, "Oh William darlin'!" Her expression turns slightly stern, "Why haven't you called me in so long? I've been worried sick. Oh goodness at least you're here now."

I smiled at her but it didn't seem to convince her, "What's wrong, darlin'?" She asks and I sigh.

"I met this guy and he's amazing and I love him  _ so _ much but I'm scared, Mama. I'm scared that I'm going to hurt him. He's been through so much and I don't want to add to that. I'm scared that I will do something to hurt him. That I'll just lose control one day and do something horrible. I can't do that to him, I just can't. What should I do, Mama?" I begged

She tilted her head and I realized I had just outed myself, I cleared my throat, "Um, I'm gay. Pansexual, actually. I'm attracted to people regardless of their gender and-" I trailed off, waiting for her reaction.

She nodded, "Go on dear, please continue," she said as she continued to make dinner. That slowed my heart beat considerably as I continued.

"I just don't know what I should do, Mama." I admitted.

“Darlin’ it sounds to me like you fear being human. Part of being human is messing up and sometimes that means hurting the people we love. I know my WIll, your heart is as sweet and pure as honey. You could never hurt someone to the degree you are worried about. If this boy truly loves you, he’ll know you're human and make mistakes. One accidental slip of the tongue won’t be the end of the world. It might mean a tiny fight but if he’s the one you will apologize and make up.”

"But what if-"

"No 'buts,' William. I have to go, you take care of yourself now and remember to call me once in a while and please-" she takes a deep breath, "Come visit me sometime soon, I know you're busy up there, but it's so lonely without you."

"I promise, Mama." I tell her and the call ends.

I stood up and looked around. I started walking until I reached the black cabin. I hesitated before I knocked on the door of the Hades cabin.

Nico opened the door and stepped back when he saw me, "Will? Are you okay?"

I open my mouth to respond, but my words fail me, my breathing quickens and I cover my hands with my face, my eyes begin to burn as tears pool in my eyes. Nico wraps his arms around me but stays silent. I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his shoulder.

He seemed a little surprised at first and hesitated before relaxing. He moved and we sat down on his bed. I have to force myself from worrying about hurting him, it was going to be okay.

I don't know how, but all that crying left me exhausted and my eyes got heavy as I fell asleep. 

\------------time skip-------------

"You better have a good explanation for this, Solace," Reyna said, waking me up.

I jumped up and realized that Nico was next to me. I scan my surroundings as my eyes adjust to the room and I realized I was still in the Hades cabin. Shit, I'd fallen asleep next to Nico, as well. Reyna was right in front of us, next to her girlfriend Thalia Grace.

Nico, bless his heart, sleeps like the dead and is just now waking up, "What the… Will? What’s happening?” he asks.

Reyna looks between me and Nico and laughs, "Yeah I'm not worried about you two doing anything, let's just go, we have to leave for the quest soon."

Reyna and Thalia leave and Nico gets up. "I uh… what?" He asks.

I stay silent and look over to him but he leans away, "Sorry, not right now." He says.

I nod and move away, starting to walk out to the pavilion. I catch Magnus's blonde hair and remember the conversation I had with my mom. I hadn't been very open with everyone about my sexuality, and I knew that I didn't need to. However, I felt… more comfortable to finally be open about it. I knew not everyone needed a label, but I finally was so sure in myself.

I walk over to Magnus and suddenly start to regret it, "Um uh, you wouldn't by chance, um happen to have another pansexual pride flag?" I ask, avoiding eye contact.

Magnus turned to me, "Um yeah I think so," he handed me one and smiled.

I took it and sighed with relief, "Why does such a tiny flag bring me so much joy?"

Magnus laughed, "I don't know man. Honestly, I'd rather not give myself a label, but it feels right, you know?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I know how you feel," I bit my lip, "Hey can I ask you a question?" Magnus turns to me.

"Hmm?" I took a deep breath, slightly ashamed to still need validation.

"Are you… do you ever get  _ afraid _ of yourself? Like that you might, I don't know, hurt someone you care about? Like Alex or-" I shake my head, realizing how suspicious that sounded, "Sorry, I probably sound insane right now."

“No, it's fine. Believe it or not, I have. Whenever I heal someone, I see a part of their memory. That happened one time with Alex and," Magnus tensed. "It didn't go over very well. I would never invade her space like that intentionally. I'm scared of getting too close to her that she'll get uncomfortable. However, I didn't know where those boundaries were. I had to talk to her about it, a relationship is a team. If you're that worried, you should really talk to him about it."


	14. Piper

Shel's words ran through my head for the seven millionth time. Why had I been so fast to say "Yes let's do this”? Maybe it's because deep down it felt right. At the same time though it felt odd that I had been so ready to give it a chance.

We all loaded into the camp van and Shel goes up front, "I'm driving, since I'm the only one here who is both alive and has a driver's license." She says. I smile at her and yell, "I call shotgun!"

"Wow, so mature," Leo joked and I stuck my tongue out at him and sat next to my girlfriend.

Leo sat behind us with Reyna, followed by Thalia and Will, and then finally Nico, Alex and Magnus. Magnus,despite being the tallest, ended up squished in between the two of them.

I elbowed Shel as she turned on the car, "You got your license? I didn't know gays knew how to drive."

"Oh no, my gay card has been revoked!" She says in mock horror, "Guess this means I can't kiss you anymore."

I lean over and kiss her and Leo says, "Cut the PDA you two, this is a family friendly car trip"

I reach back and swat at him, “What part of a quest to retrieve a Titan’s weapon sounds family friendly?”

"The part that we are all cousins," a collective groan was heard from everyone.

“Leo, don’t make this so awkward, the godly side doesn't even count. There's no DNA there."

Leo smirks, "I'm just messing with you, beauty queen, sorry.” I roll my eyes at him but I can't help but to smile. It felt good to have him back, he definitely lightened the mood. I look in the side mirror back at him. He seemed more distant than usual as we kept driving.

I realized he was staring at Shel. Not in a weird way, sort of in a combination of awe and intrigue. I raise an eyebrow, though it just struck me as odd. It wasn't that I was jealous or anything, just a little surprised. I shook my head, he was just staring off into space. 

I stare ahead and wonder how long it'll take for us to get there.


	15. Leo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update!!! We've been writing a lot for the fic though, we just hit 37k words the other day!!! I hope y'all enjoy!!!

Why did I always have to fall in love with girls way out of my league? It didn't seem fair, especially because Shel already had a girlfriend. Heck, I didn't even know if she was also attracted to guys. Still, she understood me. Everything seemed to finally make sense whenever I was around her, like I didn't need to worry about my problems and I could just be myself. She loved machines as much as I did. It sounds small but it's rare someone else thinks of them in the same way. But it was more than that. I couldn't quite describe it, but I admired her in a way I didn't think possible.

Reyna sat next to me, her silver bow across her lap. I didn't know why, but she looked happier since the last time I saw her. I started fidgeting in my seat, messing with my seatbelt and tapping my foot, moving back and forth. This was driving me insane.

"You good there?” I look over at Reyna, "You're not gonna blow stuff up again are you?"

I laugh, "I told You guys it was an accident! We all agreed to that!"

She chuckles, "Relax, I'm just messing with you," I roll my eyes.

She turns to me and glances at the ace flag pin I had on my shirt, "You know, you were probably the last person I'd have guessed to be asexual." She says at last.

I frown, "Oh yeah? Why's that?" I say sarcastically. I shake my head, "Yeah, I know. You and everyone else seem to think that." I tell her.

"Hey, there isn't a way to look into someone's head and figure out their sexuality. You say you're asexual? You're valid." She tells me, like one of those inspirational Instagram posts.

I sigh and move my head down, "Yeah I know. It's just- the first time I finally am able to be myself and know who I really am, but everyone is expecting me to jump out and yell 'just kidding, I'm an allosexual!'" I tell her.

“Honestly, that feeling never goes away. People can wrap their minds around a lot but for whatever gods foresaken reason aesexuality is difficult for people to understand.”

I look at her like she's crazy, "That's what I don't get, what the hell is so special about wanting to fuck someone that people hate people for not feeling like that?"

We stare at each other for a minute before bursting out laughing, "You- you wanna know something? It's really hilarious," Reyna says between bits of laughter, "For the longest time, I thought it was just some long running JOKE! Like- No one  _ actually _ has sexual attraction, that's just like- I don't know- something only in TV shows." I laugh with her and try to catch my breath.

"Ooh oh my gosh, until literally last year I thought that- that sexual attraction was like freaking forced like that- like that you have it and that you did something to make yourself have it and I just didn't have that and that I was just-" I slowed down as I realized what I was saying. Reyna slowly stopped laughing as she realized that I stopped as well.

"I just felt like something was missing, so I tried to force myself to make up for it by doing stupid things, like flirting with girls," Reyna covered her mouth.

"That's kinda funny, but sad," she said. I nodded, "Yeah, that had been pretty rough. Actually, if I'm being honest, it was pretty terrifying." I admitted slowly, lowering my voice significantly.

She nodded, "Yeah, it is." She looked back at Thalia, who was sitting right behind me. Reyna's eyes looked sad and confused, as if she didn't know what to do. I wondered if they were doing okay, Thalia wasn't doing so well when we were at camp, but I figured that had to do with her past. I only really knew about her past with Jason, but Annabeth had let some other things slip a few times. She was fast asleep, her head leaned against the window.

Reyna turned back towards me, "Hey how is Calypso doing?" She asked. I shrugged, "We haven't talked in a while, but the last time I heard from her, she was single and happy,"

She silently nodded and looked back towards Thalia. I felt a tap on my shoulder and spun around to see Piper, "I'm bored, what were you guys laughing about?" She asked me.

I smiled, "Just asexual stuff," I replied and continued messing with my seatbelt. I was trying to figure out a way to get it to not get stuck every time I leaned forward, and it was proving to be an interesting task. I quickly glanced up at Shel, wondering if she would have any ideas on it, then I forced myself to focus my thoughts. She was with Piper, and Piper was my best friend. I couldn't do that to her. I briefly found myself smiling to myself at the fact that Piper had been dating two of my crushes at this point. I guess we both had a similar type. Though I knew I never had a chance with either of them.

Shel glanced at me in the overhead mirror and smiled. My heart betrayed me and began to beat faster. I sighed, this was going to be a long trip.


	16. Thalia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: PTSD flashback

We had finally left Camp Halfblood and I was feeling much better. Still, I decided to take a nap. I didn't get much sleep though, with Reyna and Leo chatting excitedly, bonding over their lives and being asexual. It made me happy to hear Reyna finally talking about something she cared about. Sure, I knew that she loved being in the Hunters, but I guessed this was something new.

They went silent after a while and my face warmed up as I realized that Reyna was watching me. I slowly opened my eyes and she smiled, but it didn't meet her eyes. I started looking for my silver circlet that had fallen from my head. I started scrambling around, Artemis would _kill_ me if I lost it. She already was hesitant to send me on a quest with a bunch of _filthy males_ , this would only make things worse. After about a minute, Will found it under his seat and handed it to me.

"I think we're stopping soon," Reyna informed me, "Just for lunch and gas."

I smiled and then looked around and out my window, "Where are we?" I asked her.

"I think we just entered New Jersey, there should be an exit coming up." I nodded and began messing with my silver bracelet, careful not to activate Aegis.

It was only about fifteen minutes before we finally arrived at the gas station, or at least according to Piper who seemed to be getting annoyed at Leo's constant complaining of how long the trip was taking them.

My legs had fallen asleep but I got up and we walked out into the parking lot. I had a gut feeling that something was up with this place, but I was distracted by the rest of the group moving inside. Still, I kept my senses sharp.

Being Artemis's Luteniute, I had to look out for the other Hunters. A lot of demigods have this weird twisted view of the Hunters, that all we do is hate men and fight. However, it is really just a safe space to protect girls and the animals. As much as she joked about turning men into animals, Artemis didn't exactly hate them. None of us really did, we were just skeptical of most of them. All of us had been harmed by the patriarchy, so why couldn't we form our own group where that didn't exist? Being part of the Hunters meant gaining a family where the typical rules of society no longer apply.

I followed everyone inside the store but kept my eyes on the window. I must have been staring outside for a little too long because Reyna tapped my shoulder, "Hey, what are you getting?"

I look around and grab a random vegan sandwich. Reyna has a sandwich as well as some chips. We head over to the register to pay then we head outside and sit at a nearby table that looks like a strong breeze might blow it over.

The others had already grabbed their food and were waiting for us. I looked over to Reyna, she looked anxious. "Hey, you okay?" I asked her and grabbed her hand.

She squeezed my hand but looked up, "I'm just a little confused," she told me, "You were so upset back at camp but now you seem so fine." Oh...

She continued, "I've been trying to talk to you about it, maybe to help you or just be there but you've been pushing away," she became quieter, "Did I do something wrong? Does it have to do with the pride celebration? We don't have to celebrate it if you don't want to, I know a lot of people get anxious around it. Do you miss the other Hunters? We can go back if you want-"

"Reyna," I told her in a soothing voice, "It's not your fault. It couldn't be, I would let you know if it was."

"Are you sure?" She asked. I stood on my tip toes and kissed her forehead.

"You are my world," I said. I didn't care how cheesy it was. It was the truth. I would stay immortal my whole life if it meant I could stay by her side. She gave me a shaky smile and bent down and pecked me on the lips.

"If you ever need to tell me anything, please," she told me. I smiled warmly at her.

"Actually-" my eyes grew wide as I looked over her shoulder, "Cyclopes." I whispered.

Before she could react, I grabbed her hand and ran to the others.

"Guys we need to run," I told them quickly, "Our scent has attracted attention already,"

"Our what?" Magnus began but was stopped by the sound of the cyclops's footsteps. Everyone turns to the sound.

Without thinking, I run up to the cyclops and bring out Aegis. It doesn't seem that affected by my shield for too long. I draw my bow and start shooting at the monster. In a flash, before I could see where it landed, I was knocked to the ground.

Everything became cold. I could see Halfblood Hill in the distance. Annabeth was screaming my name but I couldn't do anything. The cyclops swung its arm at me again and I let out a shrill shriek, covering my head with my arms. My vision became blurry, everything was moving. A darkness continued to surround me until I heard footsteps, I curled myself into a ball.

Annabeth's yelling got louder until I felt someone grab my shoulder. Luke's face was above mine, smiling. It quickly turned into a frown and I began to panic.

"Thalia, please, it's going to be okay," he said softly, "Just breathe."

"Stop it, I'm fine," I told him, "Luke, go get Annabeth, I can take him out," I told him.

Luke backed away, startled, then he regained his composure, "Thalia, I need you to focus," I shook my head.

"Thalia!" Another voice called. I didn't recognize her at first, but as soon as I did, I grabbed her hand and my heart rate slowed.

I slowly became more aware of my surroundings, I wasn't next to Halfblood Hill, I was in a parking lot in New Jersey. I looked up and saw Luke for half a seLuke.before I realized it was Will Solace from the Apollo cabin. He looked a little uncomfortable and shaken. I understood why. I had called him Luke. The guy who caused Camp Halfblood and all demigods misery. The guy who was responsible for his sibling's deaths.

"I'm sorry, Will, honestly," I told him.

He shook his head, "You couldn't help it."

Reyna raised an eyebrow but still looked sorrowful, "Who's Luke?" She asked.

I stood up and looked around for the cyclops, "Where'd it go?" I asked, avoiding Reyna's question.

"We defeated it while you were… Down. We couldn't have done it without you, though." Will told me, though he still avoided eye contact.

I nodded and turned to Reyna, "I told you that when I ran away I met up with someone. I also told you that I didn't like that tree on Halfblood hill," I took a deep breath, "I met up with Annabeth and this guy named Luke. Luke wanted to fight every single monster we saw. That ended with… Well, me dying. Anyway, he turned evil because of that and basically started the Titan war because he was possessed by Kronos."

Reyna stayed silent for a long time, processing that. She finally asked, "What about the tree?"

I blushed, "Zues turned me into that tree when I died. Percy brought me back with the Golden Fleece, and now I'm here, with the most beautiful person in the world." She nods, and then pulls me up to my feet.

"Wow, that sounds like a lot… Why didn't you-" she shook her head, "Never mind, let's just get going. California's still so far away."

We walked into the bus, everyone stared at us for a few seconds before turning away. Will still wouldn't meet my eyes as I sat next to him. I was about to suggest we switch seats when Piper spoke.

"You good?" She asked. My thoughts instantly turned to the other day, I wondered if she still had my brother's shirt. I wondered what else she had taken and what else she was playing at. I shrugged, "I'm fine," I told her.

Piper reluctantly turned around and we started driving again.


	17. Magnus

About 2 days later after the Thalia situation at the gas station, Alex let out a huge sigh. She- she had told me her pronouns switched this morning- dramatically stretched her arms out and leaned against the window.

I raised an eyebrow at her but she just sighed again deeper this time. Okay, this was weird.

"Um, you okay?" I asked her.

She leaned against me and sighed, "Oh- hi do we hug?" I asked.

Alex nodded, "Yeah, Magnus. Nonverbal consent is a thing." She tells me. Oh… yeah. The streets taught you a lot but the intricacies of relationships definitely wasn’t part of the curriculum.

I wrapped my arm around her and we leaned against the window she was sitting next to. A part of me suddenly became nervous. What if she got sick of me not understanding what she was saying? Was I doing something wrong? What if she left me because we can't stay together forever? I need to make sure that doesn't happen. Ugh what if I'm not there for her? What am I even doing? Do I even care about her? My thoughts continued to race.

Alex looked up at me and took my hands, "Hey, it's okay," she said gently, "We're both still learning. It's gonna be okay."

I sighed, "How do you know that?" I asked her. She took a deep breath, "because I love you, and I'm not going to let anything happen to either of us."

I stared into her heterochromatic eyes, "I love you, too," I whispered. I half expected her to say something cheesy to ruin the mood, but instead she just leaned against me. I may have been in a van that was driving towards a dangerous quest, but in that moment I felt content and safe.

I began to imagine what would happen if we did stay together forever. I knew we would outlive all our mortal friends, but we would have each other. We would run our home for wayward youth. We would see Blitz's business take off. We would see Samirah and Amir get married. We might even see Bitz and Hearth's marriage- we all knew it was bound to happen. But most importantly, I would see her every day of my life until Ragnorak. That was what I was looking forward to the most.

I planted a kiss in her curly green hair and smiled. She opened her mouth to say something when the van suddenly lurched forward.


	18. Shel

"Everyone _get out!_ " I yelled at them. Everyone pushed each other to the front and got out. Of course the van decided to pick middle of nowhere Wisconsin to break down. I unbuckle my seat belt and get out to check the engine. Leo was already under the hood.

I looked at the steam coming from the car, "Leo, stay safe," I told him cautiously.

"I'm being perfectly careful. I'm fireproof.

I rolled my eyes, "Being fireproof won't keep you from bumping into something."

"Relax, I'm fine," he continued working, "Stop worrying about me." He joked.

I felt my cheeks heat up slightly at the teasing, "How's it looking under there?"

"Uh- I can't see much right now and I can't exactly use a flame for a light source so…"

Leo snapped his fingers and took his head out of the hood and scrambled around for something in his tool belt, "Ah ha! Got it." He pulled out a flashlight. I raised an eyebrow and Leo got a look of glee in his eyes, "This toolbelt can pull out basically anything, it's amazing, really."

I raised my eyebrows, interesting… I cleared my throat, "Anything? There has to be some kind of limit."

He shrugged, "Yeah, there's a limit, it has to recharge whenever I want to take out something big or rare, but I never really tested it's limits, that's actually a good idea!"

I smiled but then looked at the setting sun, "The magical tool belt can be tested later let's get this van back on the road."

Between the two of us and quite a few curses, we eventually got the engine back working. We clean our arms and hands off with wipes courtesy of the magic tool belt and let everyone know we are back in action.

"I think we should rest for the night here, though," Reyna spoke up, "We all seem pretty tired," As much as I wanted to power through and get to California, I knew she was right.

Leo shrugged but then smiled, "Maybe we can test the limits of the toolbelt now,"

"Stop showing off, Valdez," Alex snapped, "She has a girlfriend." Now that made me angry and it very obviously hurt Leo even if he was trying not to show it.

I was about to correct her and say that Piper and I were in a polyamourus relationship when Leo spoke up, "What the heck is your deal, Fierro?" He asked her.

She crossed her arms, "Well for starters, you don't seem to respect most people in our community. And you blame it on what? The fact that you had homophobic friends or something?" She rolled her eyes.

Leo had smoke coming out of his ears, "Listen here Fierro and listen good because I will only be saying it once. I have been through hell and back but you wouldn't know that would you? Because you don't know anything about my life. As for not respecting the people in our community I'd like to know what exactly I've done that you find to show this supposed disrespect. I may not be entirely educated but I'm working on it and in the meantime respect people even if I don't understand their identities."

Her jaw dropped open. He had caught her off guard. I looked between the two of them and held my breath. Then, she laughed, "Hell and back ey? Well I'm sorry to say this but I died and as for educating yourself, it's really easy if you would just tolerate them."

Leo looked down, "Not everyone had access to that growing up like you did, Alex." He mumbled.

"Oh wow I didn't know being thrown out of your house meant that I could get free access to learning my identity!" She said sarcastically. I swore she had tears in her eyes but it was too dark to tell. I wanted to step in before things got out of hand but Magnus beat me to it, grabbing her hand.

Alex turned to look at Manus before pulling away and walking off to be alone.I looked over at Leo. He looked utterly shocked and kept mumbling to himself. I wanted to go walk over and comfort him, but it wasn't the time. Piper grabbed my hand and we left him alone.

I leaned against Piper and squeezed her hand. She seemed pretty shaken up about the fight. It had been pretty overwhelming for all of us to watch. I didn't leave her side for the rest of the night as we spent the time making dinner in silence.

The next time she spoke was after dinner. She kissed my forehead, "You should rest, I don't want you to exhaust yourself on the road." She told me. I nodded as I laid out my sleeping bag. She laid hers next to mine and fell peacefully asleep. I hoped they were going to be okay.


	19. Leo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update

I started pacing around where we had set up camp. After the fight, I had isolated myself from everyone else. Alex had decided to sleep alone in the van. I didn't blame her, and not just because it was more comfortable. As I paced I tried to mentally prepare myself to speak with her. I had to fix this mess I started, and I had to do it alone. A simple "I'm sorry," wasn't going to cut it. Nor would explaining how I felt and getting all mushy with emotions. She probably wouldn't even care how I felt at this point. Ugh, why did organic life forms have to be so complicated?

I started pacing around the van, trying to force myself to go in, but stopping whenever I realized I needed to add to my plan. Ugh, this was a nightmare. I see a few people beginning to pack and I force myself to run into the van.

Alex, who was laying across the three seats in the back of the bus, looked up when she heard me. Then she rolled her eyes and laid back down.

I nervously walked toward her when she groaned, "What do you want, Valdez? You come here to pity me?"

Not knowing what to do, I stood a few feet away from her, "No it's not like that," I sighed, "look, I know I shouldn't have assumed anything about your past but-" I shook my head and sat down.

She sat up and scowled, "But what?" She asked. I am taken aback by this. Dam it, I spent so long preparing for this, why was this so hard?

I stayed silent and looked down. She groaned and laid back down, "Just get out of my face." Something was clearly bothering her and I needed to fix it. I’m just not sure how.

I awkwardly cleared my throat, "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked with uncertainty.

She raised an eyebrow at me, "What the- you expect me to just share my feelings with you? Mind your business." She curled up into a ball.

I cursed myself, why was I so bad at this? I sighed, "Look, I just want to help, maybe I can fix it?" I told her.

This was apparently not the right choice of words. "Why do you want to fix everyone else but are so damn happy with yourself?" She said, straining her voice.

I blinked, wondering if I heard her correctly. It took awhile for me to process that she had  _ actually _ said that. "Um, what?" I asked her.

"You're so confident with yourself, all the time! You brag about everything you do. You try to fix people's problems that you think they have," she stood up, "But you won't even research LGBTQ stuff but you think you're  _ perfect _ , so fucking perfect that you don't need to change."

My mind began racing. Thoughts flew at me rapidly as her words jabbed me in the gut. “I’m sorry I think I’m perfect? I spent so long hating myself and I am finally-  _ finally _ moving past that and you have the audacity to sit there and tell me how I feel about myself!” heat rushes to my head with anger, "I literally used to run away from every problem I faced. But honestly I can't do that anymore, so I'd just like to know-" I slowed down my speech, "What did I do?"

She stayed silent for a minute. I wondered if I had said something wrong and I started messing with some screws in my toolbelt and swayed back and forth. I checked out the window, the others were still packing. I turned back but Alex still hadn't moved.

"I don't know, okay!" She said suddenly, then spoke somewhat calmer, "I just- you seem so- you’re just- how are you so happy? After everything? Why can't- it's just not fair."

I looked down. She was in pain, ugh why was I so happy about figuring out myself? I thought back to those times when I was sad and how Shel and Piper comforted me. I shook my head. No, I don't deserve that kindness, there were people who needed it more. What did I do to deserve this? Ugh, my stomach felt sick as I remembered how I had low-key flirted with Shel. Why did I think I deserved to be in a relationship? She already had a girlfriend, I was just being stupid. Stupid stupid ugh.

"You're right- sorry, I'll just- I'll just go," I told her and started walking away.

“Wait stop! That’s not what I meant!” I stopped in my tracks and turned to face her.

She took a deep breath, "Leo, I don't mean that. I meant," she swallowed and closed her eyes, "I don’t understand how, after all you’ve been through, you're so happy. That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be.”

I looked up at her, my mind trying to process that. I nodded, "Yeah… okay,"

" I just need some time to think…" she told me. I nodded and walked out of the van.


	20. Piper

By the time we reached Nebraska, the sun was already setting. I’d been listening to Shel talk about a project she’d been working on back at camp. I didn’t fully understand it but that didn’t matter. The look of pure joy and the spark in her eye that came from talking about it were just so beautiful. She sounded so happy and excited too. It felt good in those peaceful moments. We were two normal teenage girls and not demigods.

"We want to make the camp more accessible to all demigods. People get injured all the time so why not let everyone know they're welcome?" She explained. I nodded and tried to remember anything I had learned about that before. I was drawing a blank but she just continued, so I leaned against her as she gave examples and explained.

She finishes and we sit in comfortable silence for a little bit. She eventually speaks up, "I'm trying to remember what your weapon is but I'm drawing a blank. What is it again?"

I looked up. I remembered telling her about it when she first learned she was a demigod, which was surprisingly late in life mind you. The gods were SUPPOSED to claim their kids at the age of 12, but they still missed some.

I was intending to just pass it to Shel when I saw something on its surface. I pulled it closer and gasped. Alex was in a pit of snakes, there was a net of chains, myself biting into an apple, and Magnus with a golden sword. At least that's what I could see clearly the rest was just moving in flashes too fast to properly comprehend.

It was weird to me because before when it showed me things, I had more time to process them. They were slower. Now, they happened almost all at once. This couldn't be good.

"The visions in the blade are back,"that little bit of information was clearly concerning with or without context. I shouted,"Everyone get over here I just got some new information!"

Everyone looked up and gathered around us. I frowned when I realized Leo was standing far back, at the edge of the crowd. He had been avoiding us since yesterday. I shook it off and explained what I'd seen. Everyone seemed shaken but Will and Nico seemed the most surprised.

Will glanced at Nico and then stepped forward, "I had a dream like that. The night before the prophecy was revealed." He looked at Nico again who nodded at him. Will took a deep breath and continued, "We think it might mean we're all going to split up at some point." This definitely was not good.

Magnus looked at his necklace, "What did you say the sword was doing?" He asked vaguely, yet stern. 

I concentrated hard on remembering what happened, "I'm not sure, it all happened so fast," I looked over to Magnus, "It looked like it was being wielded but the power seemed to come from it not you."

His shoulders relaxed and he tapped the necklace. It suddenly transformed into the sword I'd seen in my dream. As if this wasn't surprising enough the sword spoke, "Whats up?"

Nico stumbled back, "What the- is this normal?" He asked. Will decided to answer that, "It is definitely not."

Magnus smiled, "This is my sword, Jack. He basically fights for me, but I don't use him very often because then I get exhausted."

Shel shoved her way to where Magnus was, "How?! This is amazing, who came up with this? How does it work?" She asked. Not two seconds later, Leo was also questioning Magnus about his sword's inner workings.

I remembered reading a few things about Norse mythology a few months after my dad did the movie King of Sparta. I turned to Magnus, "Wait, that's Sumarbrander, isn't it?"

Magnus looked surprised but before he could speak the sword did, "Yeah, but the names Jack, and hands off," he told them.

He seemed to like the attention and began singing some Adele songs. Before he got too far in Magnus, cut him off, "Jack, I'm gonna put you away now, thank you for your help."

"What about the other things you saw?" Alex asked. 

I frowned, "I'm not really sure what any of it means. You were in a pit of snakes like I already said but why you were there and what you were doing just wasn't clear."

She rolled her eyes, "it's probably my Mother Dearest." She said. I frowned, she seemed annoyed but it wasn't clear at who. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot and she held herself tightly when she wasn't talking and thought no one was watching. I was worried about her, that fight with Leo had gotten out of hand.

After we ate dinner, I walked over to Alex. She seemed surprised when I grabbed her arm gently, "Hey," I told her.

She raised an eyebrow but her gaze seemed soft, "Yeah?" She asked me.

I gave her a small smile, "Don't listen to what Leo said, he can be pretty stupid sometimes. It's gonna be okay," I tried to force a little bit of charmspeak into my voice but she doesn't seem to respond to it.

"Yeah, I know but…" her voice faltered. I nodded but she continued, "I- I should go to bed, thanks though." She gave a small smile for a half a second and then walked away.


	21. Alex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Self doubt and implied past abuse

I leaned against the window next to my seat, staring in silence. Why did I hate Leo so fucking much? It wasn't like he'd done anything horribly wrong, sure he was a complete annoying idiot sometimes, but… I guess I was just jealous? Jealous that he had healed and moved on? I leaned my forehead against the hot window. He said he'd been through hell and back, yet somehow he'd overcome that. Why couldn't I do the same?What was holding me to those horrible fucking memories? 

My thoughts began to drift again, I remembered how hard it had been for me to accept and move on from Adrian's death. I squeezed my eyes shut. He would probably yell at me now, for feeling like this. He always put others before himself, he would want me to move on and be happy. That's why it was so hard when he just… Wasn't there. I remembered the countless nights I spent secretly sobbing as quietly as I could so I wouldn't bother anyone. I needed to let everyone else move on, even if it meant I couldn't. I scolded at myself again, I was getting upset about that again. God I just needed to move the hell on.

Adrian had taught me that. He wanted me to move on from my past, it didn't define me. My freaking dad and my good-for-nothing stepmom didn't mean anything. They were in the past. So why did all of this still affect me? I balled my fists and turned away from the window. 

Was I weak? I had to be. Why else would this be so hard? My dad and mom and step mom knew that. My dad wanted me to make a living off pottery, maybe I was just too weak to do that. I just wanted to do it for fun. My stepmom didn't do anything, she didn't care. Whatever. But my mom? Ha. As much as Loki was evil, she knew me pretty well. So well that it honestly scared me sometimes. She knew I was weak. They all knew. Heck, even Magnus knew. He was always so careful around me, as if I might break at any moment. I needed to be stronger.

I looked up and saw Magnus sitting right next to me. His eyes moved up and he slowly put his arm around me. I may be weak but I need to get stronger. I’m going to get stronger. I _needed_ to get stronger. He frowned, "Do you want to…"

I groaned, "Ugh, just stop babying me! Tell me what you mean at least. I'm not a fucking child, Magnus." How was I going to get him to see that I wasn't weak?

"I'm just trying not to hurt you."

My chest began to tighten, "Why aren't you this hesitant, this nervous around anyone else?" I asked.

"You're my significant other. The same can't be said for everyone else."

"You sure?" I joked, then frowned, "but still, I'm not as weak as you think. I can handle myself," I said.

Magnus nods seeming to understand, "I'll try to remember that."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm serious. All of you guys- never mind," I leaned against him and sighed, "I'm not a porcelain doll and I don't want to be treated like one. You don't have to worry and watch what you say around me."

Magnus tensed, "I don't do that. Look trust me, I know you could probably kill me if we were at Valhalla." He bit his lip, "What's brought this on anyway?"

Did I even want to tell him? "Fighting with Leo just got me thinking."

Magnus inhaled sharply, "Did that kid say something to you? I swear, I will punch him," he said so threateningly I almost laughed.

"No he didn't though I do think watching you try to pulverize him would be excellent. entertainment."

He pulled me closer, his long blonde hair brushing my shoulder, "then what?"

"It just got me thinking. Why am I so weak that I can't move on?"

He wrapped both his arms around me, "Well I don't know who told you that, they must be pretty stupid."

I leaned back in his arms, "I just want to move on from my past. I just want to finally be happy without _remembering_." I explained and started playing with his necklace.

"Remembering doesn't make you weak."

I stared up at him, "But what if I can't do stupid things because then I'll..." My voice faltered.

Magnus raised an eyebrow at me, "Alex, I can't look at the color blue or wolves without thinking of my mom. If you're weak, then so am I. But neither of us are."

He was right. Maybe I wasn't as weak as I thought. "Please don't play with my necklace, Jack is going to ruin the moment." He told me.

I laughed and replied sarcastically, "Jack ruin a moment? No, never."

He pouted and I stopped playing with his necklace. "You're lucky you're cute." I told him.

We sat like that in comfortable silence for a little bit before everyone else started loading up.

As the others walked on, I stayed with Magnus and we ignored the others. 

I began playing with his hair when he said, "Maybe we should play a game?"

"What kind of game?" "A car game? What does everyone think about that?"

Thalia shrugged, "Sure,"

Piper jumps in from the front, "What about eye spy?" Nico shrugged, "Sounds fun, I guess" I rolled my eyes, "Fine, I guess I'm in." I still didn't move.

We began playing this awful car game. Will gave the first clue "Something uh... yellow" Guesses were flying around the van. This was surprisingly fun.

I rubbed my neck as I looked around for the next clue, Nico said he spied something black. Black? Of all the possible clues he chooses to say something black. I continued to rub my neck, begging he didn't notice it. Not that I was ashamed of it, but still. Someone finally guessed that it was Thalia's backpack. The game ended as Shel pulled us over to eat lunch.

We made our way off the van, we had been sitting there for a while so we all decided to do some stretches before walking into the store. You know, for monster facing preparation. As we began walking again, Reyna narrowed her eyebrows at me, but then her expression relaxed. Weird.

“What’s that on your neck Alex?” Shit. Clearly the weird look had a purpose.

"Nothing," I replied and kept walking. 

“It's not nothing,” why wouldn’t she just leave this alone.

Reyna stepped next to me, "How the heck did you get a tattoo?" she waved the question away, "Never mind, but that is so cool."

I braced myself for a million questions, but instead she just rolled up her sleeve and revealed a tattoo with a symbol I didn't recognize and a few lines. "We had to get them at Camp Jupiter, but I want to get a better one someday." She said.

“I’ve got a tattoo as well,” Solace jumps in. Sunshine guy? Mr. no-fighting-allowed-because-I-said-so man had a tattoo?

Will suddenly lowered part of his shirt down and revealed part of a tattoo. It appeared to be of a sun. My face began to go hot but I ignored it.

I fake gasped, "William Solace, stop flirting with me, I already have a blonde healer boyfriend." 

His face went beet red and he tried to respond. He couldn’t come up with anything and he instead ended up opening and closing his mouth like a fish gasping for air on land. 

I tried not to laugh, my dramaticness was far from over. I dramatically leaned back with one hand fanned over my mouth, "It appears that I have cheated on my significant other, whatever shall I do?"

Magnus fake gasped as well, "Oh no, it appears that my significant other has cheated on me, whatever shall I do?" I smiled at him and he winked. My heart skipped a beat. Dam, I loved him. 

Will looked very confused and slightly concerned. I elbowed him, "I'm just messing with you, sorry." He nodded.

"Anyway, that's cool that you have a tattoo, you didn't really strike me as the type to get one." I admitted.

Will shrugged, "Yeah, but it's important to me. It's because my dad is Apollo and stuff." He said. I touched my neck again.

"Yeah, mine's my mom's symbol, Loki." I moved my hair and showed it to him.

I turned back around, "I'm trying to reclaim the symbol of my ever so wonderful mother, because it's important to me."

Will nodded, "Yeah I get that,"

I fell back into Magnus's arms dramatically, "Will you ever forgive me, my love?"

"Oh I suppose I shall, my love," he said.

"Horrah!" I shouted and wrapped my arms around him.

"Okay, I'm gonna go now," Will said. He walked away thoroughly confused.

I realized that Nico and Reyna had already walked off, but I rolled my eyes. However, Reyna did kinda make me feel strangely less alone.


	22. Nico

After Alex and Magnus started acting all... Weird, Reyna and I snuck off to be away from their loudness and ended up at a small river.

"I still don't understand why some people seem so bummed about the no phone rule." I was ranting about the modern world.

Reyna nodded as she made her way through the rocks, "Yeah, it's really weird, why can't they just go outside or something? We're at a summer camp, what did they expect?"

"Exactly! Go train with your weapon or something!" Finally, someone gets it around here.

She smiled, "I guess you're still not caught up with modern technology yet?" She jumped over a branch in front of her and landed roughly on the rock in front of her.

"No, but I'm getting there," I stepped around the same branch and tried to balance myself, "Why did they have to change so much?" It really didn't make much sense, I mean yes I was infinitely thankful for the improvements in the social climate, but everything else? Why?

Reyna ruffled my hair, "I don't know, but there's not much we can do now."

I swatted her hand away,"What about you? How are you adjusting?"

She shrugged, "Eh, I've been staying with the Hunters, so it's mainly been me catching others up on stuff," she smiled, "But Thalia has caught me up on some stuff, I guess."

I tensed and began running my hand across a leaf on a branch in front of me, feeling the hundreds of smooth and rough bumps across it. I looked up at her, "You guys were talking about tattoos back there, I've actually been thinking about getting one." 

Reyna chuckled and bent down to my height, "You're fifteen, right?" She asked.

I threw the leaf at her, "I'm sixteen, but technically I'm like what- eighty something? I've lost count." 

She nodded all serious like, "Oh yeah, take your time, us gays are pretty bad at math,"

“Yeah, I should be about 16.”

She shrugged, "I guess you can get a tattoo but only with a parent or guardian's permission," she smirked and I slapped my forehead.

“There has to be a tattoo shop in New Rome that would do it. All of the legionnaires have them anyway.”

"I don't think they'd be so willing to give anyone a tattoo, those tattoos have meaning," she said.

“Obviously I wouldn’t get one of those tattoos. I’m not interested in the battle commitment they come with.”

"Then how do you plan on getting a tattoo?" She asked and continued walking.

“Guess I’ll get it done by a Herme’s camper. Heard one of them snuck in supplies for it.”

Her eyes widened and she turned around, "Fuck no, di Angelo," she slapped her forehead, "Look, I know I've joked about it before, but I'm actually kind of serious. Technically, I could adopt you -don't look at me like that Nico, I'm serious."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not a little kid, I can live on my own."

She sighed, "I know that, but it's not safe. You need a legal guardian. If you get picked up by police in the mortal world without one, gods forbid, then you’d be placed into the system.”

I took a deep breath and stared at the water, she had a point. I also knew there were other reasons that would be beneficial, but at the same time, I didn't want to put stress on her. She was only eighteen, just barely an adult. Granted, she would stay that way forever, but still.

After what felt like forever, I finally looked up at her, "That actually sounds like a possibility. But still… I think I need some time to think about it."

Reyna seemed to have been thinking of something entirely different, "Yeah but wait, how many people on the Argo 2 actually were gay?" She asked.

“Almost everyone I think. Hazel and Frank I’m not sure about. But apparently everyone else.”

Reyna didn't look convinced, "We need to ask Hazel and Frank. We must have answers," she scrambled around in her pocket, "What was that thing that you Greeks use to message each other through the water?" She asked.

“Iris message?”

“Yes that!” she seemed to have found what she was scrambling for and pulled a drachma out of her pocket.

She tossed the drachma into the river, "O Iris, except my offering, show me Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang, New Rome." She declared.

Frank and Hazel's images began to appear in the lake. After a couple of seconds their images were completely there.

Hazel spoke first,”Hey Nico, what’s up?”

"Oh uh-" I suddenly realized this was a weird idea.

Reyna spoke over me, "So it's pride and we are trying to figure something out," she explained and I tried not to laugh. “It has recently been brought to my attention that early everyone on the Argo 2 was gay. The only 2 unknowns are you guys, so are you?”

Frank raised an eyebrow, "This isn't exactly how I planned on coming out to you guys but yeah, I'm queer and non binary." Hmm fuck I needed to ask Will or Alex about that when I got the chance.

Hazel moved closer into the mist of the Iris message and smiled, "I'm just like not, cishet… I think that's the word. Labels are weird, but helpful. I love who I want and as for gender, I don’t give a fuck what I was assigned birth. I’m just human."

I nodded, very wise words, I just wish I understood some of them.

Reyna smiled, "So what pronouns do you use then?" She asked.

"I actually have to go," Frank said, "But I use he/they pronouns," he ran out of the frame and I heard yelling in the distance. I hoped they were okay.

Hazel stepped closer to the center of the frame, "I better go as well, never a day that isn’t busy here, but I use she/they pronouns.”

"Wait," I said and Hazel turned around, "Yeah?"

I sighed, I hadn't got to talk to her in so long, it didn't feel right to just end the call right then. "I uh, I miss you, can we just talk for a little while longer?"

They nodded and I smiled. Hazel turned to Reyna, "You talked to Will Solace, right?"

Reyna chuckled and I glared at both of them, "Yeah, the boy is fine,"

Hazel nodded sternly, "Hmm… alright, I trust your judgement," their expression relaxed, "So how's camp? Where are you guys right now?" She asked.

"Somewhere in the Sierra Nevada's I think," I guessed, "We're on a quest, it's in California, but other than that, it's pretty unclear." I explained and began kicking rocks around in the shallow areas of the river.

Hazel nodded, "Try to stay safe, it's been kind of rough over here, "We decided to make War Games a little different." 

I raised an eyebrow, how more dangerous could they make that game? "How so?" Reyna asked with intrigue.

"Make it so that people are more strategic and able to adapt when formations aren't an option." They explained.

I nodded, that actually sounded like a good idea. I'll admit, even from the few times I was at Camp Jupiter, I liked the variation of large activities that they had, rather than only having capture the flag at Camp Halfblood.

Before I could comment on that, Hazel furrowed her eyebrows, "Wait a second, what did you mean by 'everyone on the Argo 2 was gay?'"

I looked at Reyna and tried not to laugh, "Well, apparently-"

Will and Leo came walking through, "There you are, we've been looking all over for you!" Will said.

Leo waved at the Iris message, "Hey Hazel" he said. Huh, he didn't sound like himself for some reason. He was a lot less annoying than usual.

""I gotta get going. Work to be done! Love you Nico!" with that Hazel swiped her hand through the mist ending the call.

I smiled softly but followed Will to the van.


	23. Will

We had stopped for the night once again in the middle of nowhere. Nico and I were a ways off from the rest of the group just talking and cuddling. As much as I just knew I needed to tell him what had been on my mind but it was so nice to just relax I couldn't bring myself to say anything just yet.

I sighed, "Nico?" I whispered.

He lifted his head from my shoulder, "Yeah? What's up?" he asked.

I took a deep breath and avoided his eyes, "There's something I've been meaning to talk about." His brow furrowed slightly.

"What's up luce dei miei occhi?" he asked me. I almost forgot what I was going to say, when it hit me again.

"Um I've never hurt you, right?" good gods this was hard.

Nico's head moved back,"What? No, never. Where is this even coming from? If someone said anything to you to make you worry-"

"No one said anything. I- I'm scared I'm going to hurt you." 

He blinked and my heart ached, "Why would you think that, amore?" He asked. 

My heart skipped a beat. He told me he loved me for the first time in Italian? Ahhh! Focus, Will. I closed my eyes, "I don't know, I'm just... Scared." I admitted.

"You, mi amore, are one of the most gentle natured and kind people I have ever met. I'm not sure you're even capable of hurting someone on purpose with no cause let alone accidentally."

I smiled, "Yeah that's part of my job, the whole hypocritical doctor's oath thing," I bit my lip, hoping I would keep it.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. When you make a promise, you stick to it. That's just one of the many things I love about you."

I kissed his cheek but frowned, "Just promise me you'll let me know if I ever do?" I asked, staring into his eyes.

"I will, " he leaned up kissing my forehead.

I sighed, "I love you, too" I told him.

He laid his head back on my shoulder. "What were you, Reyna, and Hazel chatting about when me and Leo found y'all?" I asked.

"We mentioned that everyone on the Argo 2 was gay. Frank and Hazel came out to us," he shifted to face me, "We should really visit them some time, did you know that Camp Jupiter has Mythomagic?" He continued talking, I smiled. I loved it when his eyes lit up whenever he talked about something he really liked. He eventually finished and leaned against me, "Yeah, it's a really fun game."

"Reyna asked to adopt me." That took me by surprise.

"Um, run that by me again, darlin'? How did that get brought up?" I glanced over to where Reyna's stuff was.

"I mentioned how I was thinking about getting a tattoo, which spiraled into a conversation about how I planned on doing that. Then she just said she wanted to."

He spoke fast but I was able to piece it all together. "It sounds like you've thought this through, dear, what do you need me for?" I tilted my head to the side.

"You, oh smart one, are my boyfriend of course I would want to tell you something this big. I was also wondering what you thought about this whole thing."

I considered this. Honestly, it didn't seem like such a bad idea. She had helped him with a lot of stuff and could help him with even more. "I think it's a good idea, but it's up to you." I told him.

"I think so too. I'm still not so sure about how exactly an immortal 18 year old adopts someone but I guess we'll figure it out."

I shrugged, "I'm sure the mist will cover up any loose ends," he seemed to almost melt into my side. I wrapped an arm around him and then started laughing, "I still can't get over whatever happened with Alex and Magnus earlier."

He laughed too, "Yeah, I thought Magnus was going to faint."

"Alex was all like 'oh no I've cheated on you' and I was just standing there- like what did I do?!"

I felt him shake with laughter, "I mean you did say you had a tattoo, what else was one to think?"

My face went warm, "It was relevant to the conversation, it's not like I randomly decided to show her my tattoo!" I said but Nico just laughed harder.

"Under your shirt no less!"

I rolled my eyes and shoved him gently, "I guess this means I'll have to leave you for her," I said, trying and failing to be as dramatic as possible.

"Now that would lead to a line of people trying to beat you up. Something tells me there are people other than them emotionally invested in their relationship."

I kissed his cheek, "I suppose I won't, besides, you're too amazing to break up with."

"That I am."


	24. Thalia

As Reyna walked back from the river my heart skipped a beat. I ran over to her and she smiled, "Are they still acting crazy over there?" 

"Nah, just the normal amount actually." She laughed.

“That’s still an excessive level,” she monotoned, "But at least it's better than nothing,"

“What did you and Mr. Death and gloom get chatting about?”

She shrugged but tensed her shoulders before relaxing them, "I've been thinking about adopting him." Whoa. Adopting? That’s a massive commitment. What would that mean for us?

“Adoption? Are you sure because that is a massive commitment with and gods know how many consequences.”

She frowned, "I'm confused, what are you so worried about?" I blinked. How was she so certain about this? Anything could go wrong.

I spread my hands out, "Reyna, what would adopting him even mean first of all. Would we need to buy a house? Get normal jobs? If so how does that impact our ability to be part of the hunt? All of that aside, what if he’s using you? What if he gets arrested?"

Reyna tilted her head and bit her lip, "Thalia… you don't have to worry about all that." She told me.

I put my hands down and crossed my arms tightly, "But what if he's using you? How do you know he won't get you in trouble or something?" I asked softly. It felt like she was just rushing in to call this kid 'family'. What did that word even mean anymore? I think we both had trouble figuring that out sometimes.

She took a deep breath, "I trust Nico with my life. It's just on paper, so that he can avoid the foster system and get a tattoo. I'm not going to hurt you, Thalia, and neither will he."

I stared at the pins on the sleeves of my leather jacket, not reading them, just processing that they were there. A calming reminder of something. She seemed so certain that Nico was a part of her family now. I still didn't know if I was a part of her's. Ugh, I'm getting all sappy. Still, I didn't know if I could trust him. It seemed too easy. There had to be a catch. There was always a catch.

Something was bound to go wrong, it was just a matter of preparing for it to happen. Running away from my mom, sacrificing myself, joining the hunters, it was all I could do, because I was unprepared by the time the ball hit and the happiness ran out. I wasn't going to back myself into a corner and make a life changing decision with a snap of my fingers ever again. 

“There is always a catch. Something will always come back to bite you in the ass.” I looked up at her.

She slowly nodded, "You shouldn't worry about that, but I understand why you do," she cleared her throat, "I want to look out for him, he's my family, as close as family as the hunters are. I won't do it if you feel uncomfortable, though."

I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against hers. "Just give me some time, can we talk about something else? I've barely gotten to talk to you this whole trip." I just wanted to talk to  _ her _ .

She nodded and we found a rock to sit on. It was uncomfortable at first, but we shifted around and found the perfect spot. I rested my head against her neck and closed my eyes. She wrapped an arm around me and I sighed. We rarely got moments like these, even when we weren't on quests. It felt nice and peaceful to just  _ be _ .

"What was it you wanted to talk about?"

“Anything and everything,” I winked but shrugged, "I don't know, maybe our new companions?”

"Hmm… They seem okay I guess," she said, “Alex and Magnus definitely have some personality.”

I snorted, "You can say that again," I cleared my throat and leaned dramatically back, "Oh Magnus how ever shall you forgive me!?”

Reyna stared down at me with concern, "Are you okay?”

I rolled my eyes and leaned towards her, "It's an impression!" I said, elongating the words for dramatic effect.

"Ah, I see," she still looked very concerned.

I rolled my eyes, "Romans," I joked, "You guys take stuff so seriously."

“Perhaps, my ever so charming dear, that is why the empire survived for so long.”

My face warmed. The silver circlet fell off my head and she caught it single handedly. I turned myself right side up again and she handed it to me.

"We should head back to the van," Reyna said, "They might leave without us." I nodded and followed her.


	25. Piper

We had to stop one last time before getting to California. We would get there tomorrow, we just needed to rest. I had been expecting more monster attacks, but I also knew that more was yet to come. I also had another issue. Leo had been dodging me for a couple of days now. I was honestly kind of annoyed, he was one of my best friends. What the fuck happened?

As we walked off the bus, I smiled at Shel, but then hurried to find Leo. He noticed me and began moving faster, so I glared at him, “Stop right there Valdez!”

He jumped and turned around, "What?"

I was caught off guard, he looked so stressed, “Why have you been avoiding me?”

"Have I? I hadn't noticed." He asked with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

He was clearly lying but he also clearly wouldn’t talk about it either, “We haven’t talked in way too long.”

He sat down and took out some stuff from his tool belt, "Do you ever remmember much from Camp?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Camp Halfblood? Um yeah, what kind of question is that?" I sat down across from him.

He shook his head, "No, I mean from the Wilderness School."

Wow, I hadn't thought about that in a while. I sat there for a little bit as I tried to remember, meanwhile he kept tapping his foot on the ground and looking around. That boy never sat still.

I caught myself wondering yet again if he was okay. A part of me wondered how things would have been different had he never died and gone to Ogigya, had everything turned out how it had except he had stayed. Then, I remembered what he had asked.

I scowled, "That's...weird, I can't remember some things now." 

“Strange, me too. But who could ever forget the great pudding heist?” he asked.

I laughed, “I believe when Coach realized you’d swiped all the pudding he made you eat it.” He laughed as well.

“I think he meant it to be a punishment but he didn’t account for me being a bottomless pit.”

I shook my head, continuing to laugh, "Man, Jason was so-" I stopped, for once not because I missed him.

Leo tilted his head, "What?" He asked.

"That's weird, I swore he was there, but now my memory of him that the Mist created, but now it's just gone."

Leo nodded, "Yeah, as much as I miss Jason, I still wish we could get our  _ real _ memories back." He sighed.

Without thinking, I took his hand, "We're going to figure out a way to get them back. Just like how we're going to make it through this quest."

He looked up, "Yeah, I hope so." He said faintly. I held his gaze and realized how much he really had changed since leaving the Waystation. He seemed much more sure of himself, yet still so lost. It was like he knew who he was but not where that put him in the world.

Leo let go of my hand and cleared his throat, "So about the quest?" He said.

I moved my hand back, "Yeah, so apparently a 'fruit of the dove shall be returned'" I said dramatically.

He nodded daintily, "Your mother will be so proud, once she puts you in a bunch of hyper feminine clothing and forces you to break Shel's poor heart."

“She better not. First of all Shel is not going anywhere and she can bite my ass if she thinks otherwise. Second I can’t handle being all girly like that again. It's like people only saw me for my body and forgot I was a human,” I ranted. People tended to look only skin deep when it came to me and it bothered the hell out of me. When she did that it made it so much worse.

"I know that," Leo faltered and seemed to be thinking very carefully about what he was going to do and or say next.

He took a deep breath, "Piper, I-"

Before he could finish his sentence a certain watermelon colored person interrupted,”Hello my beautiful people!”

I turn to her and roll my eyes, "Yeah?" I asked.

She looked between the two of us and then smirked, then faced me again and led me away from Leo, leaving both of us confused.

“Now what was that missy.” she asked and my face went warm.

"What?" I asked, "Nothing happened," I tried to force charmspeak into my voice but she seemed completely unaffected, like it just passed through her.

She smirked, "Nice try, but that won’t work on me. That was definitely not nothing.”

I glanced back at Leo and my heart skipped a beat as I realized he was looking back at me, I turned back to Alex, "We were just talking about the quest." Which was true! But it clearly wasn't the answer she was looking for.

“Your body language had a lot more to say”

I groaned, "Why the fuck does everyone care about who I'm dating or who I like?"

Her expression turned serious, "Oh… I didn't mean it like that, I swear." She said.

I chose to believe her. I looked up to the sky, "It's like no one sees me as a person. People say I can't dress the way I do because 'it's rejecting femininity' and apparently I 'put down other girls for being feminine' which I don't even know what gave them that idea!" I started pacing as Alex nodded thoughtfully.

"And it feels like now, all people see is my freaking sexuality or my girlfriend! I'm more than that."

Alex nodded, "Damn right you are, fuck society."

I smiled, and she continued, "You decide what's womanly or feminine or whatever for yourself. Society has no business deciding what that means let alone projecting it onto others.”

I nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! Like why does society get to tell someone how they’re supposed to present?”

She nodded, "Yeah, why does society get to tell me what gender I'm assigned at birth and how the world will forever view me because of that? Fuck that! And why does society get to define what a ‘normal’ relationship is?”

"Yeah, so what if I'm not monogamous?" I realized I had just outed myself and also was furthering her suspicions about me and Leo. Suspicions she might be right about. But I don’t want to think about that right now.

Instead of pushing, she gave me a warm smile and nodded encouragingly. I suddenly understood what Magnus saw in her. Sure she was sarcastic and dramatic and sometimes a bit chaotic, but she was also so comforting and sweet.

"Hell yeah," she said softly. I exhaled deeply and sat next to her and she turned to face me.

After a few moments of peaceful silence, she gave me a smirk and then looked at Leo, "So you don't have a crush on him?"

Heat rushed to my face and I shoved her, "Shut up!"

Alex froze and then blinked, "holy shit," she leaned forward, "Wait you're last name's  _ McLean _ ?!" She asked.

I groaned, I was never going to escape my dad's old life. "Yeah, yeah Tristan McLean, I know." I said.

"You're freaking famous, or your dad is," she said.

I shrugged, "I mean he was, anyway I don't like talking about that, my dad sometimes cared too much about his job and not about me."

She clenched her jaw, "Yeah, I know what that feels like."

I sensed there was something more but I didn't want to push. "Anyway, I have to go help Nico with something," she said and stood up.

"It was nice talking to you, I guess." I said. She smiled and then walked over to Nico.

I glanced over to Shel and I felt my heart beat. I bit my lip, I knew we were in a polyamrous relationship, but I was still hesitant about this. I shook my head, we needed to communicate if we wanted anything to get done.

After we ate, I walked over to Shel and started cuddling with her. 


	26. Magnus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry for being M.I.A. I hope this chapter makes up for it!!!

We'd been back on the road for a few hours now. After a joke from Will about happy meal based death magic me and Alex had become engaged in a debate.

"Do the dead prefer chicken nuggets or burgers?"

Nico threw his hands up in the air, "I've literally risen ghosts with Happy Meals,"

"I don't know, chicken nuggets are pretty good," Alex shrugged, "I don't like burgers, personally."

I rolled my eyes as they went back and forth like this. Then, I butted in, "You're all wrong, falafel is superior."

They ignored me and continued their very heated debate. I was right, of course.

Falafel is and always will be better.

"Di Angelo you don't know what you're-" she stopped abruptly.

A sharp and loud hissing sound echoed through the bus. Will Solace's eyes went wide and he jumped up on top of his seat.

"Anybody have any idea why there might be snakes attacking the van?" Will questioned. My eyes went wide and I saw Alex's face go pale with shock.

We lurched forward and Will crashed into Leo hitting his back. Leo gasped and stood up roughly. Will tumbled to the floor accidentally taking Leo down with him. Piper walked over to them as the van shook but didn't move.

"Are they… I- did they both just  _ die _ ?!"

"No, shut up." I agreed with Alex, we had much bigger fish to fry.

Reyna must have finally grasped the situation, “We are being attacked by snakes first of all why? Second, how do we fight them?”

Before anyone could answer, Shel ran towards us, "The van's stuck, I don't know-"

Snakes started climbing the windows and Will let out a scream. We went silent. The snakes' bodies were covering the van, not letting any light escape. I tried to tell myself this was completely normal, all road trips to California were like this. Then, one of the snakes broke the glass.

"Mother f-" Alex took out her garrote and charged at the snakes. I turned to everyone else.

Nico's eyes widened, "Snakes aren't Greek monsters, how are we supposed to kill them?" He had a point. Celestial bronze won’t work.

“They are snakes, smack them with something heavy,” Thalia had a solution.

I pulled out my necklace, but Alex had already started fighting them. Jack sprung to life, "Hey Senor, what the-"

"Jack! Please, now's not the time!"

After a few rude remarks, he started fighting. Thalia was shooting the snakes with arrows while Nico was slashing them with his weapon thing. I realized we needed back up, so I ran over to Leo and Will to heal them, when I heard Alex yell.

My world stopped. She was fighting the snakes just fine, decapitating them or just slicing them in anyway she could. Every time I looked back, there were more snakes replacing the dead ones. I couldn't concentrate enough to heal anyone right now. I rushed forward, Alex caught my movement out of the corner of her eye.  _ What are you doing? _ She seemed to say.

I couldn't respond. One snake charged at her but she hit it just in time. Ten more attacked her and she winced. Around her legs, more snakes we're crawling up. I couldn't breathe. She was getting weaker with every attack. She was fighting harder than I've ever seen her fight, even in Valhalla.  _ Except this time her dying would be for real. _ I couldn't move. The thought terrified me more than anything else in the world.

A snake grabbed her arm and pulled her up and she let go of her garrote. I tried to yell at the others to help but words couldn't escape my throat. Why couldn't I move? A few other snakes grabbed her other arm and began swirling up her. She briefly transformed into a bird and tried to break free, but quickly transformed back. Then, my heart dropped.

It used to scare me how similar she looked to her mom. Now, it horrified me. Her face looked exactly like Loki's. It suddenly hit me that he had taken control of her. I tried to move, I told my brain to. She moved with the snakes and charged toward me.

I'll admit, I would have stood there and let her kill me. I didn't know what else to do. But for a few seconds, I saw her fight back against Loki. I snapped myself from the state of fear.

I did the only thing I could think of: I grabbed my floating, talking sword, and sliced the snakes around her arms and legs. Almost at the same time, she broke free from Loki's control and fell forward.

The snakes slowly retreated as if they had never been there. As soon as they were all gone, for the first time since I met her, the walls she put up to protect herself were gone.I could see straight into her heart and her soul. It was dark and full of pain. That split second of eye contact felt like an eternity. I sprinted to her side as she collapsed sobbing and screaming. I held her as she broke. I expected her to transform into something to escape my hug, but she didn't. I wondered if she was too afraid to. She sunk into me. If it was exhaustion or seeking comfort I will never know.

Nico slowly walked next to us. I had forgotten everyone else was here. I looked over to him. "I'll stay with her, Leo and Will need your help." He said.

I looked back and forth between my girlfriend and the two knocked out people. I slowly nodded as I realized that Will was the only other healer on this van.

I walked over to Will, said a prayer to my dad, touched his forehead. My hands started glowing as I braced myself for terrifying visions. Instead, I was met with his memories of talking to a slightly younger Nico.

"I said three days." Will said impatiently.

I watched the two of them bicker back and forth until he agreed and they walked into the infirmary. I was jolted back to reality fairly quickly.

Will slowly stood up and assessed his surroundings, "There was a fight," I explained and he grunted, "Can you help heal the others?"

He nodded but it was clear he was still exhausted. I sighed and turned to Leo. I'll admit, after his fight with Alex, I was kind of scared to see his memories, so I braced myself before my hands started glowing and I touched his forehead.

"What are you dragging me up here for, Valdez?" Piper Mclean asked. Leo gave her a smirk, "Oh it's something good alright, we're going to commit arson."

Her eyes widened, "LEO!" She shoved him and he laughed.

"No, but really, there's a meteor shower tonight." He said.

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? That sounds fun." She lacked enthusiasm.

Leo rolled his eyes, "Just trust me."

He grabbed her hand and pointed to the sky, "Look! See there?" He started talking about how meteor showers happened. I didn't find it particularly interesting, but Piper seemed to be hanging on to every word, nodding along as he explained.

"That's actually really interesting," Piper remarked. Leo shrugged, "The galaxy we exist in is but one of many. The light we see from some stars is hundreds of years old. Yet somehow all of the beauty we see in the night sky pales in comparison to you. You are beautiful on the outside, sure. But what truly makes you special is what's on the inside. You don’t take crap from anyone and you make yourself heard. You are insanely smart. You are kind without being a pushover. Above all you are you and the many wonderful and fantastic things that make you that are as numerous as the stars in the sky.”

Holy shit, Leo has changed a lot. A part of me wondered if he was over doing it, but Piper didn't seem to care. She leaned forward and Leo leaned towards her. Their lips touched and then I was pulled back to the present. Leo woke up and slowly became aware of his surroundings.

  
  



End file.
